Chronicles of a Rurouni
by XD
Summary: There is a journey that Soujirou must take. And as it is with any other journey, unexpected things happen. Companion piece to Shadow Twilight.
1. Foreword

Foreword  
----------------  
  
This fic was written in 1998, when I was yet an impulsive, impetuous, impressionable 16-year-old new to anime and fanfiction. I have decided to post it because it is a sort-of companion piece to my current RK fanfic project - Yesterday's Shadow is Tomorrow's Twilight. Quite a bit of people have been asking me where to find the references, so yeah, here you go! This fic should solve the mystery of how Soujirou got the Kamiya Dojo shinai in YSTT.  
  
Of course, though, you can read this fic as a standalone. We all cannot get enough of Soujirou. :3  
  
I'm posting the fic wholesale, as is - I did not remove anything, not even the ridiculously rude author's notes at the top of some of the chapters. XD **Feel the idiocy of a bumbling 16 year old fanfiction writer trying a bit too hard to get attention!!!1!1** XD **Ph33r my incorrigible grammos and typos!!!11!1!**  
  
Thank you for reading. Please enjoy the fic. Oh, and because ff:net has a lot of strange formatting restrictions, and because I'm too lazy to go back and pick out every double enter I need to type, you may get a bit lost in between scene transitions. Sorry! O.Ox  
  
You can find more of my oldfics at -  
http : www . geocities . com / SoHo / Studio / 7409 (remove all spaces)  
  
Sincerely,  
XD - the cross-eyed smiley 


	2. Chapter One

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
This is my journey, journey through life.  
With every twist and turn I've laughed and cried  
As the road unwinds  
This is my journey, and I've learned to fight.  
To make me strong enough, to lift me up  
To bring my dreams alive...  
The Journey; 911  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part One: Winter's Rendevous  
  
  
He stopped abruptly in his tracks, cocking his ears for the shrill whistling sound disturbing the peace of this beautiful, misty morning. It soon disappeared into something down the road which seemed tolerable enough for the young man, so he left it how it was and went on his way.  
  
/This is so tiring.../ He decided before finally slumping down onto a huge tree beside the deserted back alleys of town, checking his belongings for anything edible or thirst-quenching. Having found none, he simply sighed in resignation and rested his arms behind his back as he faced the lonely, thick mist with wide, deep eyes.  
  
He wasn't surveying the land, or doing anything in particular. How was it possible, anyway, in the solidness of the fog? A mere rest, he thought to himself. A mere indulgence one of superior sword skills could only allow oneself once in a long while.  
  
And he laughed at the ironic way he portrayed himself. One of superior sword skills? Oh how anyone would laugh at him if he said it. True, perhaps only few know of the truth behind the matter, but Soujirou himself would not stop anyone from laughing at him for being silly. For he was.  
  
How could he possibly be anyone who knew how to handle a sword, when he didn't have a sword by him? How pointless it was to try to even convince anyone otherwise... Soujirou gave himself another one of the seasoned smiles used for hiding true emotions, then dropped it as a horse carriage could be heard approaching.  
  
"Yahiko! Yahiko you bum! Get off the roof sun-tanning yourself this very instance!"  
  
The one called Yahiko turned his head from his lying position on the roof to stare into the face of his very infuriated Master. He sat up lazily, running his hand through the custom shaped black spikey hair he always had been proud of possessing.  
  
"What is it?" He could barely mumble.  
  
"WHAT IS IT?!?!" The female voice streaked out again. The next moment, while Yahiko took his time trying to open his eyes in the rising sun, a shinai flew through the air to land point blank on Yahiko's forehead.  
  
Well, that forced his eyes wide open, anyway.  
  
"It's the 21st. Just in case you forgot..."  
  
This one had a very ambiguous sound to it.  
  
"Yes. I did forget." Yahiko took the shinai and leapt off the roof, landing spectacularly on his Master. "Thanks for reminding..." He stopped, scratched his head and stood up, followed abruptly by his very crazed looking master, foaming at the mouth in absolute anger. "... for reminding..." He stopped again, face contorted with perplexity.  
  
In the distance, the dojo doors could be heard sliding open, with a click which presumably denoted the limits of how much the wood could reach.  
  
A familiar voice sounded out.  
  
"Ah! Tsubame-dono!"  
  
In the next instance, Yahiko was at the door, panting and wheezing from covering too great a distance with too little time. Tsubame looked on with no amusement or anger, merely embarassment, as she always felt when Yahiko was around. She shifted her weight around endlessly and waited for someone else to break the ice.  
  
"Go... Gomen!" Yahiko immediately started. "I... totally, by golly... FORGOT about promising to help out at the restaurant today!"  
  
Tsubame blushed a deeper flush of red as Kenshin went on to snapping the dirt out of the white clothes, which were, by the way, what he ever seems to be washing anyway.  
  
"No... it's... all right actually..."  
  
Kaoru came from behind and interrupted abruptly. "No it's not all right! Students of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu never forgets what promises they've bore! Get out! NOW!!!!" She yelled despite herself.  
  
Her tone was harsh... yet soft... and, surprisingly enough to Yahiko, imploring... with some speckles of embarassment perhaps. He turned to the familiar redhead of the house to extract perhaps a confirmation of what was happening, but if Kenshin had heard the tone of Kaoru's voice, he did a very good job in hiding the surprise.  
  
"Listen to your Master, Yahiko." Kenshin only smiled at him and snapped out some more dirt from the new batch of white clothes he was dipping into the bucket. These words worked magically, and Yahiko was on his way immediately with a cheery 'YES SIR!'. There was no hiding that Kenshin was Yahiko's goal in life. He was everything Yahiko could ever hope to want to be, for he was STRONG... although the meaning of 'strong' could mean so many different things. He was just... unique, different in so many ways. Kenshin was his role-model and a replacement of paternal love Yahiko himself never received in full. So naturally, Yahiko did everything Kenshin requested of with utmost pleasure or just feeling happy that he could please this one he so much respected.  
  
And the one called Kenshin continued washing and snapping the dirt out of the poor clothes as Yahiko and Tsubame disappeared down the misty road. Kaoru sighed in relief, her lucious black hair whipping about in the slight breeze, tied up in a high ponytail behind her. Her dancing eyes turned to the only other person in the courtyards with a slight glimmer of hope in it.  
  
/She's looking surprisingly fresh for someone who usually gets up so late.../ Kenshin mused to himself, and waited patiently for her to state her reason, or point, or whatever it was that made her get up so early.  
  
"Err... Kenshin..." She started, unsure of what do say... or how to continue. Kenshin flipped a piece of cloth about in front of him and peeked over it cautiously.  
  
"Kaoru-dono... ?"  
  
"I was just wondering if you'd like to... erm... well..." Kaoru gave herself a mental slap. HARD, on the face. She'd been planning this for so long, how could she stumble at the last minute now? GO ON, KAORU YOU FOOLISH FEMALE! She chided herself. GO ON!  
  
She had a huge intake of air.  
  
She couldn't continue. She would... later, but not now. Not when she was so... oh never mind...  
  
However, it wouldn't entirely be too good to end the conversation just there, so...  
  
"Iwasjustwonderingwhetheryou'dliketoteachmehowtocooksomethingreally- niceandnottoodisgustingforachange..."  
  
Kenshin continued snapping the dirt out of the clothes, brows creased in slight amusement. "Kaoru-dono?" He gently inquired again, concerned. Ah, how that voice, how that snapping-the-dirt-out-of-the-clothes action always made poor Kaoru want to swoon... and she would too, if she didn't flee from the courtyards soon enough...  
  
Soujirou winced. He could feel his expressions going dead-pan, something he had been devoid of for ten years and recently regained. Even he himself admitted he was not too used to this facade, however more normal it made him...  
  
He could remember an incident like this too, many many days ago, when life had been but a passing phase of living strongly. There he was, hidden in the shadows of the shady trees, and there it was, beating furiously down the tracks of a lonely alley, creating dust storms when it passed through. In it held an important man. In him held an important message to be relayed to one who could twist the fates decided for Japan then...  
  
... and Soujirou had his orders to relinquish those thoughts in Okubo Toshimichi.  
  
Every single muscle in Soujirou tensed up again to be going through something of such similar nature. He could hear the horses heavy gallops fast approaching, and every bit of him felt tempted enough to chase after the carriage with the super-human speed he possessed.  
  
Yet as he stood up, he hesitated. What was his mission this time? No. He had no mission this time. He had no message to relay to the person in the carriage now, so why was he...  
  
He sat down abruptly, disturbing the peaceful leaves which had long fallen from their mother branches. This was a trick he had learnt through all these time spent wandering around the country aimlessly, seeking to help and to be helped.  
  
Placing two fingers from each hand on each temple, like in deep concentration, Soujirou frowned and held his breath for three seconds, before letting go abruptly and regaining his smile.  
  
/That's better./ He gave himself a mental jerk and looked at the boiling orange ball rising from the bluish horizon, creating a beautiful contrast in accordance to the misty dark alleys.  
  
Somewhere in the back of his head, yes, somewhere in the back of his stomach as well, cries of 'HELP! FOOD! NOW!' could be heard. The grumbling of his unhappy stomach, Soujirou was sure, could be heard rebounding through infinite echoes all across the lonely walls of...  
  
/What's the name of this place again?/ Soujirou scratched his head. He had developed an incredibly lackadaisical attitude with an extremely failing memory while he roamed. He could remember, nearly ten steps back from where he was he had asked as to which place he currently borrowed dwelling on, and trust him to forget ten steps later...  
  
/It doesn't matter.../ He lifted himself off and continued on his journey, this time for food, amongst the streets of a familiar, yet not so, city.  
  
It doesn't matter...  
  
"Hmmm... Akabeko restaurant..."  
  
Soujirou looked up in the skies. He had been looking for two hours, and by now the sun had risen to a quite considerable height in the skies, while he continued his food quest.  
  
Nothing he'd seen on the way quite impressed him enough. Either they didn't look like restaurants, so much so that he missed them completely, or they simply didn't look hygienic enough for a wanderer like himself could survive on.  
  
Not that it all mattered anyway. Soujirou had been living from hand to foot for quite some time now, and he really needed some comfort, even if it meant losing the rest of his days to extinct privilege...  
  
He stepped cautiously into the noisy restaurant, absorbing the place with as much details as he could. There were many chamber like compartments, and almost every single one were filled with happy customers feasting away. The air of slight ease was present all over. Every group of people were separated into different bunks so that they could enjoy even some slight privacy in a public place... an ingenius idea indeed, something seldom seen, Soujirou put two fingers on his chin.  
  
"Good morning and welcome!"  
  
A voice so cheery and out of this world shocked him right to the ribs as a waitress jumped out of seemingly nowhere to usher him into the restaurant into an empty bunk.  
  
"Would you kindly sit down, sir? What would you like, sir? How about more tea, sir? Is it okay if I..."  
  
Bombarded by questions, Soujirou simply stared helplessly at the over-friendly waitress with a look which denoted "I'm-sorry-but-could-you- repeat-that-again?"  
  
She seemed to have caught the clue, and was about to restart her flurry speech when someone called her name down the hall.  
  
"Excuse me, I'll send someone back." She sweetly smiled and rushed off to answer the concerned customer's voice. The entire place was bustling with activity, something Soujirou would have liked to avoid if otherwise. He sighed and checked the money he had carefully counted before stepping in. Would it be enough? Oh he wished he'd just chose something simple, something by the side inns instead...  
  
He was so waist deep engrossed in his personal thoughts that he didn't even feel or see the shadow of another dropping by close beside him.  
  
"Not enough spare change?" A youthful voice knocked him out of his ponderation. Embarassed, he turned his head to the new entrance.  
  
A young boy, near 10 to 12 possibly. Soujirou sighed in what, relief? Discomfort? He surveyed the boy for a split second, before choosing a greeting. "Hello, little kid... I was just..."  
  
A look of an absolutely peeved youngster flashed across the young waiter's expressions as he reached behind to grab something. "Don't call me little kid!" He barely managed to stifle his anger. "'Coz I could beat you to pulp anytime I wanted for insulting me like that!" He lifted a little of his shinai kept protectively behind him to show Soujirou of the fate he would have received if he didn't keep his words polite and un-demoralizing.  
  
"I... Iie!" Soujirou quickly held up both his hands to protest even in the most feeble way that he was insulting the little boy... "I was... I meant..."  
  
He thought he heard the young boy growling, and decided it was time to hit the gears...  
  
Yahiko growled at this young... man? woman? in front of him. No one calls him 'little kid', especially not after what he did to Hennya at Aoiya. He wouldn't allow that even if nothing happened at Aoiya anyway. He had a pride, and he was keeping it. This young... man, yes, man, Yahiko decided, was nothing but another weakling beggar (judging from the way his clothes were so...) trying to get a free meal on Tae-san's account.  
  
Not that it was his business whether Tae wanted to treat every poor looking soul who comes in and goes, but they were having too many of these free-loaders lately, especially with the incoming winter. With that in mind, Yahiko kept a clear lookout for anyone even slightly resembling a beggar, and did his best to subtly chase them out of the restaurant.  
  
Although in a way, Yahiko's "subtly" was...  
  
"I will take my leave now, kodomo-kun..." Soujirou barely managed. He hated trouble, he didn't want any, not anymore. And he had thought of this journey as a ten year challenge issued from someone who obviously knew the delights and tortures of travelling inside out... what great dramatic irony. He nervously mused.  
  
"Yeh! If that's the case! HIT IT!" Yahiko practically yelled, which was absolutely necessary anyway, considering the amount of noise everybody in the restaurant was collectively making.  
  
Without a word, Soujirou stumbled out as fast as he could... well, no, not really AS FAST AS HE COULD (for we all know how fast that would be), just... as fast as he thought he should. Yep. That's right. He could feel the young boy's eyes watching him leave the restaurant in the huff, and was glad to be able to slam the door shut as he leaned slightly onto it.  
  
Letting out a sigh of relief while looking into the skies, he smiled again, at how many interesting experiences of such he could discuss with Himura-san in ten years.  
  
Provided he even lasted that long.  
  
Feeling free of obligations, as he always did when he travelled, Soujirou gathered up his belongings which had fallen to the ground in his rush and gently strode along, basking in the relaxed glory of morning sunshine.  
  
/Hm. Coward./ Yahiko inwardly sneered as the flustered man stumbled clumsily out of the restaurant and slammed the door shut. Although as much as he would like to denounce this man again, he couldn't help but feel a little similarity bursting from this man's unique aura. He was polite, and calm, and for once Yahiko didn't get some response in his threatening to fight every guy off the street mode lines.  
  
This man in blue... very tattered blue, was nervous in a strong sort of way, and deliberately obliging in a respectful manner of etiquette. He had slightly long hair... twinkling eyes that were too old to fit that youthful looking face. And even as he was without a sword, he was just like...  
  
... Kenshin...  
  
Instantly Yahiko shook his head to brush off the thought. He could not deny that this man in blue had too much similarities with his greatly respected Kenshin, but he was only alike with the pure Rurouni in Kenshin. No, the true Kenshin, which Yahiko had grown to love and understand, was far far more deep and wholesome than what this young man in blue could offer to him by aura and by charm.  
  
Yet Yahiko wondered how much more about this young man he could pry about if he was to communicate more. Too bad... he'd blown the chance already.  
  
He sighed and picked up the huge basket he had been assigned to for buying some restaurant needs.  
  
Kaoru laughed at the monkey displaying his acrobatic skills in front of the impromptu crowd. At first she had intended to get a whiff of fresh air, and then she had discovered she really needed to get something for that night's dinner, so she stayed out a little longer, knowing the dojo was safe in the hands of the family's beloved Rurouni, to enjoy the open air and people's warmth as well as the laughy crowd gathered at the stand now...  
  
/At least I won't look like a liar when I get back./ She smiled to herself, then spontaneously broke into huge laughter when the monkey did more absurd stunts at it's master's bidding.  
  
The laughter drew the young wanderer near as he curiously peeked over the shoulders of a few shorter ladies. He smiled as he saw what it was. A monkey performance.  
  
/Well, how many of those have I seen thus far?/ He began counting. Ah, life was so relaxing like that, counting things of the most insignificant orders and busying himself in the most ridiculous affairs. Yet he could not deny that he liked it, very very much indeed, for the skies were his compass and the lands were his home, while the seas were his companions and the birds were... never mind.  
  
He turned to leave, when something caught his eye.  
  
Yahiko dragged the now heavily imbued (wrong usage, but I don't really care) basket behind him, panting in his step. Twacking the drops of sweat off his brow, he checked the shopping list again for any missing items before finally feeling satisfied with what he had.  
  
He stopped at an entire crowd of laughing people and wondered briefly what was going on behind the curtain of people. Him, being pretty much shorter than most of the people there, could not catch a glimpse of what was going on no matter how much he poked. Finally, deciding he had had enough, he started dragging the basket all the way back.  
  
He watched carefully, not wanting to misunderstand or anything, or cause a great big commotion so that too much attention would be attracted. Yes. It was confirmed. That man was stealing from an unknowing young lady enjoying herself watching the show. Soujirou's eyes narrowed. How dare he. It was now the sacred Meiji Era, how dare he pick on other's disadvantageous...  
  
A few moments later, the man had gotten the money pouch that had been hanging from the young lady's obi by the side. Realizing that the young lady would not notice this for a long time, Soujirou looked around for anything that could be used, anything at all, as a weapon against that unlawful man. Yes... that was the young gentleman from the restaurant wasn't it? His shinai would do good... except that he was like 50 metres away from the crowd already?  
  
Soujirou could rectify that.  
  
In about one second, he had swiftly reached the young boy's back and gently eased the shinai out of its original lodging place, with inhuman speed, no less, and returned to the crime scene where the criminal was just about to make his getaway. With the split second this unlawful beast took to turn his head to the direction he had chosen to get away with, Soujirou thwacked him on his left shoulder, point blank, emitting a sickening, cracking sound.  
  
Gasps resounded throughout the entire onlooking crowd.  
  
"Jeepers... NO!" Soujirou placed a hand on his forehead and started to curse himself. He lifted the shinai up to investigate it, heaving only a very tremendous sigh of relief when he confirmed no scratch on the shinai. For if otherwise, he would not have dared faced the young waiter in the restaurant ever again...  
  
The thief was on the ground, eyeballs rolled and foaming at the mouth. /Oops./ Soujirou thought, the moment he relaid his eyes on the man. /I never thought a shinai could be of so much bodily harm.../ He bent down to the man and lifted the pouch easily from his boney fingers.  
  
"I presume this is yours, Miss?" Soujirou held it out to an astonished looking Kaoru.  
  
"M... Mine?" Kaoru started, checking around for her money pouch, which was indeed not anywhere on her at the moment. "MINE!" She yelled in joy and almost snatched the pouch from Soujirou. "Thank you, very very much!" She smiled, while the crowd simply gasped in awe.  
  
"You're welcomed, but if there isn't... well I think I should take my leave now." He smiled warmly and turned his back immediately. Another thing he had learnt during his wandering days, was that one must always leave before one could make any real acquaintance with anyone, for it would be shearing to attempt going off afterwards.  
  
Kaoru stared in amazement at the air surrounding the young... wait a minute... oh yes, should be a boy. Yes, the air surrounding the young boy. Clad in blue with a well-trained smile, the way he simply tore himself away from simple acquaintance was uncannily alike to...  
  
... Kenshin? Or that of every Rurouni in the land?  
  
/And I thought I'd be able thank him properly... must be a rurouni like Kenshin.../ She smiled at the thought. Kenshin...  
  
That reminded her. She'd better get the stuff soon and return to make sure he doesn't fall ill or anything washing the clothes out in the open, since it was really getting very cold around...  
  
As if to confirm, she shivered in the chilling breeze just arrived.  
  
Sanosuke swore. It wasn't the first time he swore that day, and in fact, he highly suspected there were more to come, once he found his vocabulary.  
  
He looked up to the skies and swore again when a breeze swept by. "Ch, hadn't expected winter so soon this year." He grumbled, kicking away a large pile of gathered leaves beneathe the cherry blossom trees. It was getting cold. Too cold to walk about anymore. He couldn't understand this sudden temperature change, but which direction the skies were going to didn't concern him directly.  
  
"Hmm, maybe if I go to the fox doctor's clinic I can find a cure for weather's tempermental behavior."  
  
Ah, the things people did to see someone they yearned to, the excuses they came up with... so cute...  
  
/Oh dear oh dear.../ Soujirou winced scanning the streets with flustered cheeks. /The boy's gone, and I am NOT going to step inside the restaurant to create more trouble with and for the boy again.../  
  
Gently, he knocked himself on the head with the shinai. The boy was going to go KAPUT! when he realized his shinai was gone, and seeing the kind of temper he had as a preview in the restaurant previously, returning it now would be a definite NO-NO, as he was clear it would only create more havoc than what he already did at the monkey performance stand just now.  
  
/And to think I actually enjoy doing all this.../ Soujirou grinned weakly at himself, hand grabbing tightly onto his belongings hung over his shoulder, the other one gently handling the shinai.  
  
He stopped in his step, testing the winds for a while. It smelled of winter, something he hadn't expected till quite late in the month. True, he hadn't been really keeping tabs of the date, but still he did know the seasons if anyone asked.  
  
He stared at the abnormal skies, wondering. Something behind all this sudden weather change? Highly unlikely, probably just a weather spectre, or the clouds just forgot to set their alarms properly. Again, a sigh of unconfirmed emotions escaped his lips.  
  
/So. Where to now?/ He took a quick glance around his surroundings. Someway or another, in the process of wandering around aimlessly, he had found out that lonely back alleys, or just about anywhere void of a lot of people, were what Soujirou personally preferred.  
  
Maybe he was just anti-social?  
  
A piercing scream winged swiftly through the air, bursting Soujirou's eardrums. This was followed up soon by yelps of "HELP! THIEF!"  
  
In the next moment, Soujirou had traced the source of the sound and promptly hit the spot. A woman was kneeling on the ground, crying, with a child by her side. This child... this child was... bleeding! Profusely! Soujirou did not have to wonder long to figure out what exactly was going on. The alleged thieves, three of them, had a bundle in their arms, presumably of the lady and her child's, as well as a bloodied katana...  
  
All of Soujirou's belongings slipped from his shoulders in a fluid movement, but he held fast to the shinai. It was not as if he had not seen such bloodied and brutal scenes before, though... it was just that...  
  
A child... innocent, and pure to the world. The future... and now he lay mutilated in a sobbing mother's arms...  
  
"YOU!" He looked up at the robbers with pure fury in his eyes, lifting the shinai to be pointed at them as he spoke.  
  
They merely laughed. "You dare challenge us, fool?" The one with a scar across from the forehead to the lid of the eye mocked. "You don't know what you're asking for..."  
  
/Idiots. I didn't ask for a challenge./ Soujirou grimaced.  
  
They arranged themselves to block of access to the lady and her child hidden behind in the shadows of a dead-end path behind them. Soujirou swung the shinai to his side and faced them, brows knitted in anger.  
  
"Hand them over, and you won't get hurt." He lowered his voice dangerously. The two followers cowered at his tone, but the leader smirked again. Now his eyes were narrowed dangerously into slits, and he took one step nearer the trio. "I repeat. Hand. Them. Over."  
  
He was being ignored, and he was ready to destroy them for not doing as he was told. If the child didn't get to a clinic soon... Soft laughter from the leader slowly reverted to hysterical laughter. His steel blade reflected beautifully in the morning sun, a sick irony, considering how much blood were on the blade now. Blood of a child... of innocence...  
  
"We are the three notorious warriors of Tokyo!" A sudden declaration was made, shifting Soujirou's attention back to the leader. "NO ONE, challenges us! Besides, we're not done with the lady and her child yet." He shot his best glare at Soujirou, who merely shot one back and bested him.  
  
"I don't care who you are, three nutritious warriors or not." Soujirou calmly expressed what he thought of these three idiots in front of him. "Because if you don't hand them over, I will personally make sure your notorious reputation ends right here and NOW."  
  
There were boiling emotions from the three of the addressed men. Possibly, no one had ever said things like that to them and lived to tell it, judging from the way their faces distorted in rage. Soujirou lapsed into a guarding stance, knowing how low idiots like these would stoop to gain an advantage...  
  
True to his thoughts, the first one charged at him from his left with a cry which probably translates to 'Curse your mother, your father and all of your ancestors and oh by the way watch me kill you now!' As soon as the wooden sword he had was brought down, Soujirou brought his own shinai up and pushed him slightly backwards, watching him stumble, stunned. Then, in a whiff of smoke, he vanished and reappeared behind the man, shinai already deeply buried into the back of his neck.  
  
This man gapped wildly, eyes bulging in disbelief before collapsing into subconsciousness. /No time to even scream, but just as well... don't want to attract too much attention.../ Soujirou did not wait for the next man to get over from his shock. Borrowing the wall beside him, he leapt off it to arrive behind the man in yet another flash.  
  
Unfortunately, the man had somehow anticipated this move and now was wildly thrashing his weapon backwards. After his fling however, Soujirou saw that he was completely open to any attacks, and promptly stuffed the top end of the shinai into his stomach, rendering the poor man unconcious as well.  
  
Instincts hit him as he swiftly ducked, just in time to avoid the blade of a real sword aimed accurately for his head. The leader withdrew his attack with a low grunt of displeasure and prepared again.   
  
Soujirou leapt two steps backwards, shinai in hand.  
  
"Will you release them to me now?"  
  
The leader just kept glaring at him. "You're fast, kid." Soujirou could spot the tremor in his voice. Good, he needed the leader to feel as frightened as he could. "Fast..." he trailed, then regained composure. "... but I'm faster! You watch out! YAAAAAAA -- !"  
  
His blade gleamed, but never touched the target.  
  
"What the..."  
  
Before he could finish his sentence, his sword was thwacked out of grasp and the hilt of the young man in blue's shinai caught him straight on the forehead...  
  
Soujirou got up, weary from the fight. It had been pretty easy though, he admitted. He examined the three unconcious bodies in front of him and then trottered quickly over to the young lady.  
  
"Are you all right?" His eyes gleamed of concern. "Can I help, in any way at all?"  
  
The lady looked up with pleading eyes. "Thank you..." She barely managed to mutter. "... there's a clinic around here..." She glanced briefly around in a fluster, with crying eyes. The child stirred in her arms as Soujirou signalled for him to be handed over.  
  
"There there... you'll be all right..." Soujirou's soothing voice protruded through the thick, stiff morning air. He saw the lady pick up his travel belongings for him as she picked up her own bundle and smiled. She was a very responsible lady indeed, he thought, chucking the shinai to the side of his hakama and shifting the boy slightly so he would be in a more comfortable position.  
  
To his surprise, the boy grabbed at his gi and wrenched open one bloodied eyelid. "Okaasan..."  
  
"She's all right." Soujirou assured, and as if on cue, the so said Okaasan gently held onto one hand of the young boy. Soujirou looked at the young boy, wondering what he had done to provoke the robbers into attacking, presuming that these robbers hadn't just attacked on sight.  
  
"They were doing something funny to Okaasan..." The boy choked, as if he could read Soujirou's thoughts by merely looking into his questioning eyes. Soujirou simply smiled for reassurance. "... I wanted to protect her... thank you for helping..."  
  
Soujirou looked forward into the path with a mother's son gathered in his arms and the mother sobbing in touched concern beside him, as he continued his journey in the direction of the clinic.  
  
"You are a brave boy." He gently announced, and not for the first time that day wondered if THIS, was his motive in journeying...  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
Tsubame tried to pacify the furious Yahiko, who was ruining everything in the backyard of the restaurant. He had even tried to throw some veggies and fruits down the water well as well, but was convinced otherwise by the ever present Tae. So he contented himself with kicking, screaming, punching and blaming instead.  
  
"It's all your fault! How could this have happened!!?? NOOOOOOO!"  
  
"Yahiko-kun..." Tsubame was weeping softly. She hated violence, and she really didn't know what to do with the situation at hand. Yahiko had always been well-behaved, no matter how rough, in front of her...  
  
"Yahiko-kun..." Tae echoed, large sweatdrops dripping off her hair and forehead. "... it wasn't anyone's fault that your shinai..."  
  
"NONONONO!NO!O!O Don't talk about my shinai anymore! AREGGHGH!"  
  
Tsubame grabbed onto Tae's apron and hid her face from the fuming Yahiko, still busy punching the wall in anger. His shinai! Lost just like that! How could he not have noticed! More importantly...  
  
WHO DID IT?!?!  
  
"Sanosuke?" Megumi stopped mid-way in bandaging the injured hand of a patient. "What brings you here?" She half-mocked, noticing the usual sturdy 19 year old shivering slightly as he stood out in the open courtyards of the clinic.  
  
"Ch, can't I come for no reason at all?" He stepped into the slightly warmer clinic, as Megumi turned to finishing up the final wraps of the patient's arm.  
  
"No you can't. This is a clinic, not an inn or Kaoru's dojo." Megumi grumbled, writing out the prescription for the patient in the room before handing it over with a few instructions. The patient thanks her and made his exit. By that time, Sano had seated himself comfortably in a small corner of the room, trying to make himself as inconspicious as possible.  
  
"I don't care. It's a public place, and that entitles me to free coming and going." Sano bit furiously on his fishbone, hands wrapped around himself.  
  
Megumi frowned, then got up to exit the room. She came back soon with a blanket which she flung violently towards Sano, covering him up entirely in the meantime.  
  
"Take this. I don't want anyone to freeze to death in the clinic... not a very good reputation it'll make..." She mumbled the last few words, herself taking her customary position in the doctor's chair. "Although I must admit, I didn't expect winter so quickly in the year..."  
  
"As if I did." Sano's muffled voice came from beneath the blanket, where he struggled to get the corners of so as to control how he was to be covered.  
  
Megumi ignored him for a while, staring at the skies in concern. "I wish I had a cure for that too..." She lamented. "... many people falling ill over this weird weather pattern..."  
  
"If you didn't like the trouble of all this curing, just say so."  
  
"I didn't ask for an opinion, mind you!"  
  
"Then what am I supposed to do? Sit here and watch you cut up mysterious looking plants all day?"  
  
"You could jolly well leave if it bothers you so much."  
  
"Right, and..."  
  
Their conversation (conversation? What conversation?) was stopped by the sudden appearance of a weeping lady leaning on the door frame for support, holding in her hands the small form of a young, injured child. "Please help..."  
  
Sano caught her before she fainted. Megumi moved in to lift the child from the mother's embrace. After a quick check, she looked up at Sano with alarmed eyes.  
  
"Emergency!" She whispered and ran deeper into the room with the boy in her arms. Sanosuke merely nodded and lifted up the mother from the floor into the room as well. He'd been around long enough at the clinic to know what exactly Megumi was going to do, and he knew she'd need all the help she could.  
  
Before he left however, he thought he could spot a pair of eyes peering through the clinic front doors. He blinked, and the doors slid shut silently.  
  
Was he dreaming, or were those eyes... !!  
  
His eyes were wide with disbelief. Him? Here? Oh no... then indeed, this place...  
  
He stole a quick glance around, then briskly geared up his engines. Previously, he had wanted to personally bring the young kid into clinic, but the mother wouldn't allow him to trouble himself over her family matters anymore, so he had to relax his principles and return the previous possession back to the original owner.  
  
Still his heart wasn't at ease. He had to see the boy being delivered straight into the doctor's arms before he could leave, so he managed to slide a small slit from the clinic's front doors to peek, and satisfied that it was enough, watched for a while.  
  
Yet... yet...  
  
Soujirou had to hasten, before Himura-san's companion recognized him and gave chase. The boy was safely delivered, he knew that, and he really had no face to see any of Himura-san's friends or Himura-san himself as of yet.  
  
Soon, he was a far way off from the clinic, back at some old mazey alley with no one at all. Just as well... He breathed in a large amount of the morning air. Soon it would be afternoon, then evening, then night... then the next day would come... on and on and on, this would continue until his own designated ten years was up. Yes... ten years...  
  
/Well, I've done my second good deed of the day, yet I've still not gotten anything to eat.../  
  
Lamentations, lamentations... he gently rubbed on the shinai hung absently around his left side. It was a silly place to chuck a shinai, since that was where a sword should go, but that was the only place Soujirou could think of...  
  
He stopped dead in his tracks, realizing something. Quickly, he dropped his travelling boxes and drew out the shinai with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.  
  
True enough, on a small part of the wooden blade, there were a few carved words. Soujirou squinted.  
  
/Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Dojo. Myoujin Yahiko./  
  
Soujirou smiled. At least that gave him something to work on. Maybe, if he was quick enough, he could just leave it in the dojo without anyone suspecting and the young waiter of the restaurant wouldn't jump at his skin for taking off with his shinai without permission...  
  
/Thank you for swordsmen who cherish their swords enough to leave name and address.../ Soujirou sighed.  
  
After asking around for a few more minutes, he nodded and was on his way.  
  
Kenshin wearily tried to shield himself from the cold breeze, although he merely ended up shivering more violently. He groaned and sat himself on the ground. Now where did Kaoru-dono say she was going to? Oh yes... she figured they had ran out of ingredients required for the cookery lesson and was promptly on her way to shop, although what Kenshin couldn't understand was why one needed to leave to do one's daily shopping with such a red face...  
  
Kenshin had no idea why whatsoever as to why she felt this way. And as much as he wanted to know...  
  
He noticed a piece of paper on the usually clean dojo courtyards (of course, with Kenshin around, the dojo courtyards would always be clean...), and moved to pick it up. There were some curious looking words on it, nothing more, but they were looking /extremely/ alien to the confused bishounen staring at it, nonplussed. /Gaijin words/ he decided before tucking it away securely for future retrieval.  
  
With a sigh, he turned to finish up the laundry when he launched himself into a tremendous sneeze. Jeepers. It was really getting /that/ cold around here. Although he couldn't help highly suspecting that the sneeze from beyond the dojo doors too were anything but an echo...  
  
The dark figure stepped into view with the half-opened dojo doors framing his shivering body. He rubbed at his nose, then looked up in mock surprise at the redhead boring his violet eyes into him.  
  
They locked sights for a good 3 seconds before Kenshin dropped everything in his hands and gapped.  
  
"Soujirou... ?"  
  
Soujirou's mock surprise changed into one more real.  
  
"Hi... Himura-san!"  
  
  
END PART 1  
23/4/98  
Revised 24/4/98  
Re-revised 15/5/98  



	3. Chapter Two

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
The weather outside is frightful,  
Is so delightful.  
But as long as you  
love me so  
Let it snow  
Let it snow  
Let it snow...  
Christmas carol; unknown singer  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part Two: Let it snow  
  
  
They came, and fell in their twinkling glories. One by one, drop by drop, like little droplets of crystallized rain sprinkling onto the coarse land to form a protective carpet over.  
  
Their delicate beauty lies not merely within the cooling relief they brought. Not too, was it within the clear taste it formed when melted within the heat of your rolled up tongue. The way they presented themselves, was graceful and irrefutably unique.  
  
Floating peacefully down like little petals of roses dropped from a heaven-ward source. Landing gently onto the soft earth and then patiently awaiting their companions to join them in their dwellings. The beautiful snowflakes drifted and soared all over the land of Japan, casketing it, encapsulating it in shimmering lights of an all seasoned pattern...  
  
Round and round they went, shining through the sun still up in the horizons, reflecting in them distorted images of the people hurrying about in Tokyo streets, buying and stocking up for the sudden windstorm. Images of lives all about, one by one, trapped in the circled graces of the now wildly arriving snowflakes...  
  
They floated here and there... there and here and finally satisfied themselves with settling down on the roof of a wooden dojo. One flake slipped from it's companions to arrive, still peacefully and gracefully, onto the corridors of the dojo, just in time to reflect the image of a young man putting down a cup of steaming liquid to face another across him from the table.  
  
Soujirou dusted the snow he had gathered on his head previously when they had suddenly descended upon him. He fingered the cup of hot liquid in front of him on the table which he had just put down, nervously, looking up at the always alert Himura-san seated across him, holding his own cup in his cold fingers.  
  
Soujirou could not find his tongue in a rush. There were so many things to say... yet nothing to express... he lifted up his cup abruptly again, half of him wanting to feel the warmth soaking up his trembling flesh, the other half wanting to simply hide his embarassment at being so entirely tongue-tied seated across the 'strongest man in history'...  
  
He stared in awe at the aura of experience surrouding Himura-san. It was not everyday one came in contact with a person who had eyes too old for comfort and too mysterious to fit onto a scarred face...  
  
Kenshin sighed and put his cup down, staring at the obviously embarassed Soujirou. He was a little... confused too as to why Soujirou had appeared here. Not that it mattered, still, for from what he had heard from Chou, Soujirou was going to devote his life to wandering, just like what he himself did for ten years... to 'find his true self', to seek out whatever truth there was left to seek...  
  
Somehow, the redheaded bishounen figured out that Soujirou was not in a very conversational mood today, as he could feel from the way Soujirou molded his expressions into when he was invited in. He tapped impatiently on the low table, trying to curb the irascible curiousity setting in him about what Soujirou would possibly say... if he said anything...  
  
Even if Soujirou intended to keep quiet throughout this entire session, Kenshin was making sure this air of discomfort dispelled soon.   
  
When Soujirou finally found the courage to look up at the man across him, he saw that Himura-san was deeply engrossed in sipping the hot liquid out from the cup. Both his eyes were closed in a relaxed manner, as if meditating on something...  
  
He wondered what the man felt towards him. After Shishio, no one else ever treated Soujirou like a teacher teaching the principles of life to him, and after Shishio, no one else had managed to influence Soujirou into making a life altering decision with just one small 'knock knock are you there' thing on the head.  
  
"Soujirou..." A gentle and soothing voice drifted from beyond the cup held in Himura-san's hands. Soujirou intensified his stare on Himura- san, drinking from his own cup, just as the latter popped open one eye in a mischievious nature. "... I'm sure, as /the/ topic of discussion today, we would all like to find out what a bad boy you have become..."  
  
The cup almost slipped from between Soujirou's thawed fingers. "I have become /WHAT/?!?"  
  
A small laughter of triumph was heard across the table.  
  
"Bad... bad boy... very naughty..." Kenshin continued to mock, placing the cup on the table and meeting Soujirou's confused look halfway across the table. "... like, for starters, how long your hair is now."  
  
Soujirou unconciously reached to touch the slightly tied up hair halfway behind his head, staring in amazement at Kenshin. He hadn't thought about it, but he really had no time (and no money for that matter) to worry about how long his hair had grown.  
  
"But, Himura-san..." He frowned, releasing his hair and bringing his hand back to the front, "... you have longer hair than mine!" he mildly protested. "Doesn't that make you downright rotten, if one were to judge badness by length of hair?" Soujirou smiled innocently, a smile quite lost since eight years old.  
  
His reply was to get a burst of laughter from Kenshin.  
  
"That's the whole point, see? Now you're talking, and it eases up the air... A LOT." Kenshin finished off by finishing up his tea and standing up to clear the utensils. "I'll bring these to the..."  
  
Soujirou did not take long to consider. "No, Himura-san, let me." He reached out for the cup, the pot and smiled again, very sweetly. "You can clear up the mess on the courtyards outside..." He guiltily pronounced, remembering he had made Himura-san drop all of the laundry onto the floor by suddenly appearing in the doors of the dojo.  
  
Kenshin looked back hesitantly at Soujirou, before also smiling and handing over the pots and cups. "Don't you dare break anything, though..." Kenshin warned. "... because if you do, I'm not going to be answering to the owner of the dojo..."  
  
Kenshin further shuddered at the thought of Kaoru chasing him halfway around Tokyo with her bokken in hand.  
  
Soujirou simply acknowledged it with a slight salute and promptly made his way off. Kenshin stood and watched Soujirou disappear into the kitchen, which had been pointed out to the latter after Kenshin invited him in to serve as a topic of distraction...  
  
He turned his head to stare at the gently cruising snowflakes, then at the basin of laundry, some done, some un, in front of him. One flake managed to touch his face coolly and numbed the nerves all around. When was it that he last felt like this... ?  
  
"Snow..." He couldn't help but feel a terrible jab of pain inside him. He remembered... snow being mixed with pure red blood... a tanto flying backwards...  
  
... and the last time he ever shed a tear...  
  
/Yet that is not the concern now./ Kenshin frowned. /Snow so early in the year? Something is DEFINITELY wrong.../  
  
By the time Kenshin had fully packed up the laundry and brought the basin (clothes included) into the main dojo hall, Soujirou was standing at the doorframe of which led to the inner rooms, smile in check and a shinai present in both his hands. He walked forward, still smiling warmly, as if he had found the smile after being embarassed for so long. He held out the shinai for Kenshin.  
  
Kenshin put the laundry aside and took the shinai. "This is... ?"  
  
"This dojo's shinai... I..." Soujirou's cheeks flushed a bright red in utter guilt. "... borrowed it to... err... stop a thief from robbing a young lady on the streets today..."  
  
Kenshin shook his head, silently chidding the young boy in front of him. "And you dare say you've not been naughty?"  
  
Soujirou scratched his head in embarassment. "Okay." Kenshin leaned the shinai against the wall next to him. "I'll return it to... saaaay, you've never really met Yahiko before haven't you?"  
  
"No... not until today..." Was the frank reply. "Although I seem to have heard of him somewhere... was it the Aoiya match with Hennya... ? Oh never mind..." Soujirou placed his hand at the back of his head and started scratching his hair again, his face still set in bright pink. "SAA! HIMURA- SAN! LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT OTHERS!!"  
  
He stopped to note a very weird looking Kenshin looking at him.  
  
"There is no need to shout or give me a saliva-storm, Soujirou."  
  
"AHAHAHAHA! GOMEN!!! HIMURA-SAN!"  
  
"Yikes! And I thought snow was bad enough! Umbrella! It's gonna rain!!"  
  
"They'll be all right." Megumi wiped the sweat off her brow, looking at the worried-clad face of Sanosuke towering tall behind her. He made no move.  
  
"I said: they'll be all right, so there's no need to look so worried!" Megumi snapped, releasing the band which held her hair up while the operation was being performed. She looked at Sanosuke, expecting a crude reply or a sarcastic remark, but... there was none...   
  
Whatever it was bothering him, Megumi soon figured out it wasn't the young boy or his mother, currently sleeping peacefully now. Sanosuke's frown deepened and he turned from the room to go out to the main clinic hall, stuffing his hands in the slits of his pants as he walked.  
  
He stared deeply at the snow now gathering at the courtyards, the front door, everywhere they could land... snow... something was not right. Yes, the weather was not right, the time was not right, and the place was not right. Wherever this snow had come from, it did not come from a natural, heaven-sent source.  
  
Or maybe it did.  
  
As Sanosuke's eyes turned to leave the snow, he caught sight of the clinic doors, now slid shut when it had been slightly ajar some time ago to reveal the shining eyes of...  
  
"... Seta Soujirou..." Sanosuke mumbled to himself, grunting while he was at it. He would never admit it openly, yet he had saw it with his own eyes how the little kid of 18 was faster than the Rurouni of Kamiya dojo. Indeed, Sanosuke knew that Kenshin was not superhuman or anything, for he had too many enemies for his own good. Soujirou was a totally unexpected foe at this, and during that duel, Sano, for the first time after meeting Kenshin, seriously considered how his death would be for everyone...  
  
/It couldn't have been him./ He tried to reassure himself, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the doorframe, looking out into the snow-filled garden. He himself did not know if Soujirou was, like Shishio, bad by nature. He did know however, that if one of Kenshin's previous foes appeared where he lived...  
  
He snapped at the thought. /Ojouchan! Yahiko!/ It was only a remembrance, yet with all the memories of the duels between Kenshin and his enemies, those who knew him well enough, knew where to strike to hurt the Rurouni most... and even if it wasn't Soujirou... no, Sano could not afford to think in 'what ifs' and 'it couldn't have beens'.  
  
He sped off, leaving Megumi a broken pillar to repair and a new door to be ordered.  
  
The snow was getting irritating. It bunked down in huge chunks on the two delicate looking characters stomping their way from the backyards of Kamiya Dojo to the front courtyards. The red-haired one was carrying a basket of reddish looking fruits and the one clad in blue was whistling cheerfully despite the snow practically engulfing him from any external view.  
  
"You seriously don't think we're going to cut up tomatoes in a snow- filled dojo front courtyard do you, Soujirou?"  
  
Soujirou merely smiled and waved the sakabatou (which we all know where he stole from) in his hands.  
  
"Sou. We could stay in the kitchen if you wanted to."  
  
"Non on ono on ono... I give up, we'll do it in the courtyards..." Kenshin feebly mumbled, before heaving and stopping in front of the log which was normally used for chopping firewood. He placed the basket of tomatoes on top of the log, trying fruitlessly to get enraged at Soujirou.  
  
He hadn't analysed Soujirou thoroughly when he stepped in, but like him, Kenshin thought Soujirou's speed would have decreased after wandering around for so long. What was more, Kenshin totally trusted Soujirou to not act against him. Who would've thought...  
  
Kenshin never saw the hand come in to snatch his sakabatou away from where it usually hung.  
  
THEN Soujirou had suggested a demonstration of his culinary skills, being the natural sweetie he was, and he wanted a demonstration done with Himura-san's precious sakabatou, no less. Kenshin's reaction was classic, (or so Soujirou thought) but when Soujirou started mentioning all the hand- swinging, earth-thumping, wooden dojo kitchen floor slamming actions he was going to require to practice his culinary, Kenshin immediately shot off a suggestion which he instantly regretted.  
  
But why the sakabatou?  
  
"It's sharp." Soujirou examined the blade carefully. /And I don't want any resistance when I pull this off on you.../ He thought with a maliciously mischievious grin, although he simply said aloud, "It even broke my sword... so using it to prepare a great meal would be..."  
  
"Soujirou, all I wanted was a decent dinner when the owners of the dojo return..." Kenshin managed one last feeble protest, shaking his head furiously in a futile attempt to stop the snow from collecting on his hair anymore. It was getting thicker and thicker by the moment, as so was the temperature growing more and more bitter with the sting of ice. Soon, he resorted to shaking his hands to keep warm, although they weren't helping in Kenshin in achieving anything other than looking like a complete idiot in the thick mist of snowflakes.  
  
The boy, however, did not seem to have heard anything at all. He stood in ready position in front of the tomato basket, determination gleaming in his eyes. Oh Himura-san was going to see exactly how naughty he had turned out to be...  
  
"Stand back, Himura-san..." He warned mildly, before rising the sakabatou high above his head...  
  
... and Kenshin immediately knew what he was trying to do.  
  
"DAME DE GOZARU!! SOUJIROU!" Kenshin reached out, but the tomatoes were already all squashed up by then, their red juice flying all over the courtyards to decorate the top of the snowflakes already landed with a bright pigment.  
  
Kenshin himself was not let off all the tomato sauce, and hoped that Kaoru-dono had remembered tomatoes on her trip... How could he not have seen it coming? One never got off from playing a prank on a youngster with such innocence without getting one prank back.  
  
Well, not only was the basket ruined, so was the huge log usually used for firewood chopping. Kaoru-dono was going to really see red...  
  
And as for the all innocent, all jokey Soujirou, he was already laughing out loud for the sake of it, sakabatou stabbed into the ground beside him, full of squashed tomato sauce and tomato seeds. He clutched his stomach in all mirth, and managed to give Kenshin a glance which mainly contains the message, "I-wanted-to-say-gotcha-but-I'm-rather-out-of-breath- right-now..."  
  
Kenshin returned it with one which said, "I-swear-when-I-get-my- sakabatou-back-you-will-pay-a-heavy-price-for-coloring-me-red".  
  
"It's... snowing... ?"  
  
Kaoru shielded her eyes from the flurry of snowflakes suddenly descending upon the land. She had been walking at a snail's crawl initially, but realized that if she wanted to get shelter before the snowstorm started getting heavier, she had to really hurry up.  
  
/SNOW???/ She mused again, gravely, in her head while she ran along, feet squashing whatever flakes already gathered on the ground. Her kimono and basket of food were seriously slowing her down while she ran, but her mind distracted her enough to let them fall secondary.  
  
The snowflakes struck her face as if they were rain. She shook them all off and hurried again. This was getting too weird... they've had early snow before, but snow /this/ early was getting to be a really great natural phenomenon. She wondered how everyone was... Yahiko, Sano, Megumi-san...  
  
"KENSHIN!" She gasped aloud to herself. He had last been left to himself washing the laundry in the front courtyards. Suppose he...  
  
Even so, Kaoru decided, a grown man like himself shouldn't have any problems when it came to protecting himself against the cold. Kenshin often left her deep in worry, that she would never see him again when she woke up, that he would have left for another journey... that he...  
  
Yet his nature... so aloof, like the whole world was not going to care if he died... it was something about Kenshin which made Kaoru want to cry with worry everytime too. Sure Kenshin killed... the legendary Hitokiri Battousai who had been passed down the analects as someone heartless, cold and utterly merciless. Kaoru herself knew and saw how much these broken memories tore the poor man down in his life, as too did she see how much, to a certain extent, these legends had been false.  
  
Even the fight with Shishio. After the match, everybody worried and worried... yet Kenshin was the one who was seemingly without a care. He was happy that it was all over, but he could never reassure his companions, especially Kaoru herself...  
  
She shook her head. She had many questions to answer to, but the answer was to be found later.  
  
"Sanosuke! Stop stop STOP!!"  
  
He turned his head around, screeching to a stop and squinting his eyes to make out who it was screaming after him. The voice came out again, somewhere to his right, and he shouted out an acknowledgement.  
  
"Yahiko! Where in all this stupid snow are you???"  
  
"HERE!"  
  
This time it was directly to his right, so he swung out an arm and heard it connect with something... someone actually. The body collapsed heavily to the floor, transformed into a moaning creature in utter pain. Sano turned to squat down on the floor, groping all over for the little boy he just hit. When he found him, Yahiko slapped his arm away, growling with fury.  
  
"What in Tokyo was that for?"  
  
He got up, followed by Sano, who stuffed his hands into his slits on the sides of his pants and glared down at Yahiko. "For finding someone as short as you, that's the only thing to do."  
  
Yahiko immediately got busy in climbing onto Sano's head and biting continuously on the hair. Sano let him, since there was nothing Yahiko's teeth could do to hurt him anyway. Growing impatient, Sano finally grabbed Yahiko down from his shoulders and snapped.  
  
"Get real, kid! Have you seen Seta Sou-"  
  
"THE ONLY THING I'VE SEEN ALL DAY IS SNOW!" Yahiko yelled cutting off Sano's question. "I was going to return to the dojo when this snowstorm started, and now I'm LOST!"  
  
Sanosuke narrowed his eyes. He knew the snow was very bad, and he knew himself that his own sense of direction was worse. Although he could probably claim to know Tokyo inside out, there was no way he could find the dojo in this horrendous blizzard.  
  
"WELL?" Yahiko continued to yell. "Are you going to do anything about it now?"  
  
Sanosuke ruffled Yahiko's similar spikey hair with one free hand. Instantly, Yahiko grabbed onto the red band flowing behind Sano to help himself onto his head for another biting session.  
  
Bearing with it before he exploded from rage, Sano simply stated, "Let's just try to locate the dojo, okay?" He reached out to grab Yahiko by the back of his gi when he felt something wrong. "And while we're at it, tell me what happened to your shinai."  
  
"Long story."  
  
Sanosuke briefly looked around at the thick fog of snow covering up all his sight without the 5 metres radius. "I have a feeling we'll have a lot of time for that."  
  
They walked together towards where they thought the dojo was.  
  
"SOUJIROU!!! I AM GOING TO..." Kenshin stopped, remembering his manners all of a sudden. He grimaced, controlled himself and breathed in as calmly as he could, although with all this snow, it was really very hard to comply comletely.  
  
"... get my sakabatou back." He completed the sentence with his usual solemn and polite speech, as he walked forward to pull his tomato-stained sakabatou away from the snow filled ground. Soujirou managed to regain his composure, wiping a few tears from his totally set in laughter face.  
  
There was a brief examination of the reddish disaster on the front courtyards while Kenshin wiped the tomato away from his sakabatou and sheathed it, chucking it where he usually did on the left side of his hakama. He turned around to address Soujirou, unaware of the troubles already planned for him...  
  
The first squashed tomato hit him straight on the nose. Before he could get over his shock, however, the rest came flying in different directions, at top speed... which he could only attribute to someone like Soujirou.  
  
"What the-" Kenshin tried desperately to evade the incoming tomatoes, which was really difficult in the thick snow, plus he was tired... the snow had not showed any intention to stop soon, and in fact was doubling it's efforts to bury the dojo under it. A small laugh came from an undefined direction, but Kenshin caught it quickly.  
  
He leapt, and collided into Soujirou in mid-air, knocking the boy down while Kenshin himself flipped away from falling onto Soujirou.  
  
"Isn't it about time you grew up, Soujirou?" Kenshin got into a defensive stance of a battou-jutsu. Oh no don't worry, he wasn't going to chop anyone up, but I wouldn't say much for the tomatoes though...  
  
Soujirou stood up, wiped frozen tears from his pale face and gave an unreadable expression to the fuming Himura-san. "Himura-san..." He dropped his hair over his eyes. "Did I ever tell you that I hadn't much of a childhood to grow up in?"  
  
Kenshin started for a while, then realized that Soujirou was fingering a squashed tomato in his hands as he did. He knew Soujirou didn't have a great childhood to begin with, and he probably wanted to catch up on what he missed then... still...  
  
"Well, then did I ever tell you that other than rendering enemies of mine unconcious, I can also render tomatoes into tomato sauce at a speed that will dazzle even you?"  
  
Soujirou peeped up, eyes glinting despite the snow hiding most of the light. He held the tomatoes like daggars and prepared himself.  
  
"I'd love to see that."  
  
Kenshin bent lower.  
  
Kaoru heaved a huge, and yes I do mean /HUGE/ sigh of relief as she lingered on the entrance to her dojo.  
  
Drat the snow, it was so thick, it almost blinded her usually perfect sense of direction. She shifted the basket of food uncomfortably in her arms, sore from carrying so much at once, and definitely unused to having run such a distance with so much. Stupid snow never knows the right time to fall or the right time to stop.  
  
/I just hope Kenshin is all right.../ She drapped her fingers over the slot which would help slide the door open...  
  
... and lucky for her, she was quick enough to avoid a tomato whizzing dangerously past her ear.  
  
Immediately she slid the entire door open, dreading the worse.  
  
"KENSHIN!"  
  
Unfortunately, she could see nothing, and do nothing for now. Not all of a sudden, though, she intensified her distinct dislike for snow. She wished, that as soon as they could, for the snow to disappear from her dojo forever. But the heavens weren't controlled by her, and the snow would not stop for now. What she could only do, was to helplessly listen to the commotion going behind the thickly veiled courtyards.  
  
Those were definitely... sword sounds. Of sword cutting through the air as if they had a vengeance against it. Not only were there sounds like that, something sounding very sinister was being splattered all around the snow...  
  
... but that didn't link with the innocent laughter flowing to her ears. Neither did she see what tomatoes had to do with all these...   
  
Thank goodness though, that the sword sounds were solitary, not clashing with the blade of another sword. Kaoru wasn't reassured, and damn she was more worried than she could ever get. She needed to feel safe, she needed to know that Kenshin was safe.  
  
"KENSHIN!" She screamed again, and felt brave enough to venture into the dojo even with the snow severely handicapping her. She caught a flash of something bright glimmering as it stroked through the air, separating something into two, and as she followed the light to it's source, found it's owner almost instantly.  
  
Kenshin turned around with his child-like violet eyes to face what he thought was the figure of the girl he wanted so much to protect. It turned out that it was, anyway. Kaoru stared in shock at the red-splattered Rurouni in front of her, drenched from top to toe with bits and drops of red...  
  
"Kaoru-dono! Stay awa-"  
  
Poor guy never got to finish his statement, as one tomato landed on his right cheek, the other on the hand holding the sakabatou and yet another on the corresponding leg.  
  
Kaoru stared, and didn't know whether to burst out laughing, or to sink to her knees and cry at Kenshin's feet for always making her worry.  
  
"Oho! A new addition to our tomato feast!" A voice drifted from in front of Kenshin. Kenshin returned his attention immediately.  
  
The male in blue who had returned Kaoru's money pouch previously in the streets stepped into a more clear distance, smiling sweetly as he did. He flashed out two more tomatoes from the smashed basket in his hands and grinned. "Shall we invite her in, Himura-san?"  
  
Instantly, Kenshin was in front of Kaoru, hands spread about in a protective manner, eyes threatening death should Soujirou land one drop of tomato sauce on her. This Soujirou caught quickly and kept the tomatoes for future use. He manifested his all-too-familiar smile and dropped the basket onto the floor.  
  
There was a rustling noise from without, and suddenly, a sinister pause permeated the air. Both Soujirou and Kenshin's eyes narrowed, uncannily mirroring the other, then dipped into guarding blocks again.  
  
Here, there, there, here... their eyes darted in all directions, trying to catch the sudden transgression in the air, both recognizing the presence as something almost unwanted. The confused Kaoru stood between them, unsure of what to do but stay still and be the damsel in distress again. She hated that, but knowing the kind of enemies Kenshin had...  
  
A blade was drew, and it connected with another in a bright spark of conflict, before a daggar dropped noiselessly onto the snow-filled ground. Kenshin swerved around to catch anymore incoming daggars, and apparently there were none until...  
  
Soujirou turned to his left, face set in determination. His left hand, outstretched, protected Kaoru's face as the next one came in. It hit, dead center, onto his left forearm and sent him collapsing onto the ground in pain.  
  
"Soujirou!" Kenshin yelped, then seemingly teleported from where he stood to be in front of the fallen character while Kaoru knelt down and tended to him. He was just in time to knock away the next five daggars aimed at where Soujirou previously stood.  
  
And just as suddenly as they arrived, the daggars were retracted with some invisible force. But for Kenshin, it was obvious enough what was wrong. Strings were pulling the daggars back to the original owners, so that no evidence of this invasion would be left...  
  
... and in the thick snow, Kenshin could not see the face of this new foe.  
  
"WHO GOES THERE???" He yelled again, furious. Soujirou half screamed out in pain as the daggar which had lodged itself into his arm was yanked away by the attached strings as well. But still, he found the strength to pick himself up and stand beside Himura-san.  
  
After a few more tensed moments, Kenshin lowered his sakabatou.  
  
"I can't feel them. Let's go into the dojo."  
  
Soujirou seriously wondered whether the snow had anything to do with this sudden attack. Not that the snow bothered him as much as the crazy wind was though...  
  
"Well, in any case, I really need to take my leave now..." Soujirou reaffirmed his stand, glancing at Himura-san for at least an approval or anything. Apparently, his companions have seemingly dissolved into the pure white snow...  
  
Kaoru caught his hand, suddenly appearing to his left. "Oh no, you got injured trying to protect me. I'm not letting you leave just so."  
  
And away he got dragged into the dojo, minorly protesting.  
  
"How long do you suppose the snow will last?"  
  
Kaoru looked up to see Kenshin staring deeply at the snow outside. "I don't know... but judging by how early it started, I certainly hope it ends just as early..."  
  
"That's right! Don't want to walk around in the blizzard all winter you know." Soujirou pipped up and cheerfully announced, brushing away some of the snow on his red-stained blue gi. Kenshin laughed softly.  
  
He moved to walk into the kitchen.  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
"Kaoru-dono, don't worry, I'm just going to heat up the shower. You must be very cold now..." He smiled sweetly, completely forgetting the fact that he /himself/ was in desperate need of a bathe.  
  
Kaoru relaxed a little and went back to her kneeled position by the small table moved out to be in the main dojo hall. Soujirou kept his smile and continued dusting himself, trying to rub off the tomato stains with some snow. He weakly tested his left forearm. Still weak, but it should heal by the next week, and by then, he should be ready to venture into the snow.  
  
  
  
Looking uneasily at the young man in front of her, Kaoru managed a feeble, and probably insincere, smile. Soujirou noticed, and was quick to smile sweetly back.  
  
"So you must be the girl who defeated Kamatari-san in Aoiya... Kamiya-san... ?"  
  
She started at how he could have knew this.  
  
"Ah, must have forgotten my introduction, how impolite..." Soujirou pouted in a kiddish way and then politely recollected himself. Bowing slightly, he spoke softly to Kaoru, "My name, Seta Soujirou. How I knew about the Aoiya affair, was because I was personally involved in the Kyoto saga."  
  
Kaoru briefly remembered that Chou, the broom-head had turned up at the new Aoiya in Kyoto to explain the fate of the Juppongatana, and surely the name 'Seta Soujirou' was mentioned somewhere which she misplaced in her memories as something insignificant...  
  
Soujirou was still deeply caught in his slight bow, in a kneeled position, no less. "I was in Shishio-san's Juppongatana."  
  
Kaoru felt like edging away, far, far away...  
  
"Ten Ken . Soujirou. I admit I held onto a belief only befitting what Shishio-san himself could even think of, but it was a belief which kept me alive for ten years..."  
  
He stopped, eyes wide with spilling emotions which Kaoru herself found fascinating. Did he say he was only 18?  
  
"... nevertheless, Himura-san adjusted my viewpoints so that I could see where Shishio-san's teachings went wrong. But he did not give me a point blank answer... and I knew how was I to go about finding it."  
  
He flashed a peace sign and earned a sweatdrop from Kaoru.  
  
"That is to roam among the people to find out what /their/ answer to this question of life. Then based on them, I find my own... I think, Kamiya-san, that should bring an end to my short introduction."  
  
She nodded, looking at the dojo grounds in the meantime. A noise came from the kitchens and a muffled 'ORO!' came from without. Soujirou stiffled a giggle, whereas Kaoru merely stared pensively in the direction where Kenshin last walked in, seriously contemplating whether she should go see what the problem was.  
  
Her eyes glimmered with sadness. There were surely many things Kenshin had not revealed to his Tokyo family... and it would take a whole lot to get him to confess more.  
  
Soujirou could have been knocked over by the sense of uneasiness the moment Kaoru stepped in, and although Himura-san himself swept it off with a laugh and an expression radiating ignorance, he could not deny that Himura-san himself was much much more aloof in his nature, since he had been like that for ten years, and it was not easy to alter his character just like that. Soujirou had that little bit more perception than Himura-san had, or was hiding, and if it could do to help...  
  
First, he had to shoot the correct question. He managed to catch the flash of confusion lingering in Kaoru's bright, innocent eyes. Eyes he had when he was young... no wonder Himura-san gave his everything to protect her, to keep this rare and beautiful human race going on...  
  
Soujirou smiled, finding the question he knew would stab Kaoru straight in the heart. He had a lot to learn from Himura-san...  
  
"I am sure the exact complexities of a Rurouni baffles you."  
  
Kaoru snapped and turned, at breakneck speed to face Soujirou, whose face remained hidden under his hair as he fingered the fresh tea cup on the table. How... how did this man know? How come he seemed to know everything??  
  
"And the many things unexplained leave you confused."  
  
Kaoru noticed that Soujirou phrased his questions as facts, and not uncertainties. She listened on, compelled to. Perhaps in this man, she could find the answers to the knots in her mind she fought so hard to untie, and yet could not...  
  
She was shocked when Soujirou looked up with deep, knowledgeable eyes. His face was suddenly old, illuminated by the lamp placed nearby, accompanied with the soft sound caused by the falling of the flakes. He spoke, softly.  
  
"Well if it's my mission as a Rurouni to offer assistance, let me help you unravel your mysteries."  
  
Kaoru slacked back a little, surprised at the directness. Again she found herself looking on the ground. She had been wanting the answers to the questions in her hearts for so long, and now that it was offered to be answered to her at no extra charge of an aching heart...  
  
... she didn't know what to do with the chance. He was, after all, not Kenshin. He couldn't answer in full... he couldn't...  
  
... but she wanted to know... she really wanted to...  
  
The suspense... it was killing... Soujirou's anticipation was great, but not as painful as Kaoru's desires fiery within her to find out. It was a contest of endurance and patience, but Kaoru's uncertainty lost evetually.  
  
And the questions came snowing like heavy flakes...  
  
"Why?" She spluttered, softly. "When everyone worried, especially after Kyoto, why did Kenshin not care or feel this way?" She briefly choked, trying to stop herself from saying anymore she didn't want to. But once the gears were set in motion, she could not stop...  
  
"Why did he hesitate to accept love?" Kaoru cried in a stifled whisper. "Why did he stop to think twice when a hand is offered in assistance?" She broke free, having summarized everything she wanted to know, top priority.  
  
But Soujirou himself did not hesitate. He smiled, answer already at hand, and went all out.  
  
"Because he doesn't understand."  
  
"What doesn't he understand?" Kaoru snapped back.  
  
"He doesn't understand why should anyone even care for him. He puts himself in such low castes that everyone becomes a master to him, and he becomes a servant generally to the world. He doesn't ask for much, he's just glad enough that a roof, food and a substitute family has been given to him and yet still, he doesn't ask for their concern, or respect." Soujirou paused for effect, allowing the information to sink in.  
  
"He merely asks for forgiveness." He continued, after the short silence. "He thinks that by putting on that mask, he will get no one else to worry for him. He doesn't want anyone to worry. It's very simple. He doesn't even think that he is WORTHY of worry.  
  
"When he sees you all getting upset, he doesn't know it's because of him, Kamiya-san. The thought will never have crossed his mind in one snowing day or whatever, that someone would actually worry for him."  
  
Kaoru lowered her eyes so they were hidden, but Soujirou knew she was crying even without seeing.  
  
Yes. The truth always hurts.  
  
"Himura-san acts as if he doesn't care. As if it's not his business if he dies or not, for he believes he would leave no pain, no regrets and no scars behind."  
  
Kenshin stopped in mid-step, sneezing.  
  
"But he does. Even subconciously, he does. He is happy, Kamiya-san, to have lived this life once, with his loved ones, with you, with his family and all those he cares with his life for. He may not have known how much he actually meant to you all before, but he does now."  
  
There was something more to educate Kamiya-san about, but that was enough drilling for one day... /I know all these because I feel this way too.../ Soujirou sadly admitted to himself, watching Kamiya-san with a slight concern. She was taking very long to lift her head up...  
  
Kaoru looked up finally, eyes filled with hopes and tears. "Excuse me..." She managed to mutter before finally stumbling to her feet and throwing herself out of the dojo doors onto the common corridors. After running for some time, she stopped, painfully repairing the answers offered to her as truths.  
  
The truth...  
  
... was it the truth?  
  
She could not deny that, however painful these answers struck her, in so many ways it actually lifted her up. After being so confused as to what exactly was going on behind Kenshin's mind, she finally had a chance to preview that bit by another of similar nature.  
  
The snow were falling, and the afternoon was stiff and frozen. If it was night, Kaoru could have sworn these snow fell in grace as unwanted stars in the heavens. Were they crying with her?  
  
Somehow, this snow was more sinister than innocent.  
  
But suddenly, Kaoru half-wished that the snow would fall forever. "Just let it snow..." She silently whispered to herself, staring at the flakes falling to the ground of her dojo courtyard. "... just let it snow..." She didn't know why she was saying all these, but she just wanted the snow to fall... thick snow...  
  
Soujirou got up, nontheless satisfied at his deed. Well, things should be much better now that he had opened up a few things for Kamiya-san to understand. Now it was up to Himura-san himself to patch up some other loopholes he didn't catch precisely, provided Himura-san cared to explain...  
  
One thing left unsettled. The daggar...  
  
Soujirou brought his bandaged left hand to examine. Nothing serious. If only, though, the daggar had not been retrieved with that string, they could examine it more thoroughly and came to a reasonable conclusion. Much as he wanted to unveil this mystery, he had to leave as soon as his hand healed enough so that Kamiya-san didn't need to feed another mouth on her hard-earned expense.  
  
A cracking sound was heard, and six daggars flew into the main dojo hall, aimed straight at Soujirou's startled face..  
  
  
END PART 2  
27/4/98  
Revised 28/4/98  
Re-revised 29/4/98  
Re-re-revised 15/5/98  
  



	4. Chapter Three

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
Too much of something is bad enough  
But something's coming over me to make me wonder...  
Too much of nothing is just as tough  
I need to know the way in which to keep me satisfied...  
Too much; The Spice Girls  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part Three: Too much of everything  
  
  
They were just millimetres away from their mark... when the intended subject swerved in a clumsy attempt to steer clear. Five of the daggers flew safely past Soujirou's head to the dojo walls, sticking deep in it just as Kenshin walked out to call for Kaoru-dono. Immediately the former ducked instinctively behind the door frame to await further movements. He took a small peep at the situation in the main dojo.  
  
The last dagger had nicked Soujirou by the right cheek just below his eye. Soujirou twisted his body out of the way of three more daggars just as the first six daggars were retrieved with the invisible strings. Kenshin stared in utter disbelief. The only way for the daggers to get in was through the dojo doors, how did so many come in at once...  
  
He heard Soujirou shout in agony as one of the many daggers in the confusing myraid of coming and goings stabbed into his left leg, falling him to one knee. There was no hesitation though, in his next move. He had to roll to one side to avoid more daggers, and yet more came in. Speed would not have been a problem for Soujirou, and Kenshin, watching with doubt, knew that. However, the space within the dojo was restricting Soujirou's abilities, and it was too alien to the boy.  
  
The daggers were coming and being pulled back to create a maze of illusions. Whoever did this was smart, for he knew that Soujirou, the target, could not escape into the courtyards where there were more slightly more freedom, in the blinding snow. Had he taken advantage of this early downpour in snowflakes into account, or had this new enemy even conjoured up this snow?  
  
Kenshin didn't believe in controlling snow, not even for explaining something as incredible as snow in pre-season. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.  
  
Soujirou winced and came down to the wooden floor after yet another somersault. His eyes took in as much as the scene as he could. The daggers were confusing him, some coming and others being dragged away. His eyes widened at the sight of another one aimed straight as his face, determined to split him open for dinner.  
  
He leapt, hit the roof and then used his inhuman speed to force the gravity into negligibility while he sped across the ceiling like a bat. He wasn't stupid, he knew the only way the daggers could come in was through the opened door of the main dojo... if he was quick enough...  
  
Landing heavily in front of the door, Soujirou reached out his right hand to grab thin air... only that what he got wasn't merely thin air, it was a string of some kind, probably attached to one of the daggers dancing gleefully in the dojo main hall right now.  
  
The enemy was probably outside at the dojo courtyards even as Soujirou glared. Yet the snow was hindering anything from being perceived, stopping all evidence to the eyes, and if this was his only chance to confirm what he feared was true...  
  
With a jerk, he yanked the string away from the original owner's grasps. He thought he heard a grunt of dissatisfaction from where the snow blocked out access to the eye, and suddenly, all the daggers were starting to be retrieved. Good, the enemy intends on a retreat now, now was his chance...  
  
Soujirou pulled at the string in his hands, pulling also the dagger attached to it. The hilt was about to hit Soujirou when he opened his palms to grab it, then, shifting his view, he took a quick analysis at where all the daggers were returning to, mapping the locus hastily.  
  
He flung the dagger, hurtling at top speed towards the unknown subject.  
  
/Smart.../ Kenshin smiled despite the situation. He knew he didn't have to worry for Soujirou, and the latter would have probably flared up at him for interferring if it had indeed happened. He had observed Soujirou for a few more moments before seeing what plan formulated behind the young Rurouni's mind, and gave him credit for creativity. And as soon as the enemy decided to make a hasty retreat when one of the strings were pulled away by Soujirou, Kenshin stepped into the dojo.  
  
There was a small silence as the dagger sliced through the air and snow to reach it's target. The oppressive silence was impregnated when the heavy sound of steel against steel clanged into the ears of both Kenshin and Soujirou. The latter quickly stood up and cocked his ears, the only other sense apparently working in the snow, to listen for more.  
  
/Maybe the dagger is in the snow.../ Soujirou pondered. /... whatever it is, I have to find out if 'he' is really behind this.../  
  
Soujirou took a step to exit the room, when a hand landed on his shoulders, demanding in a subtle way that he stopped and looked back.   
  
"Soujirou." Kenshin's voice was firm and father-like. The moment Soujirou turned to face him, Kenshin's eyes were already on the snow outside, still drifting down against the light of the sun. The boy waited patiently for Himura-san to turn his eyes back to him, hoping for some 'professional' advice. All he got was a slight shake of the head. "The weather is against us, Soujirou."  
  
"But the daggers..."  
  
"We'll go back for them after the snow stops." Kenshin grimaced. /Provided the snow even stopped.../  
  
The younger boy slumped into a hunch, still not removing his glance from Kenshin. Somewhere, behind the depths of those souls held a faint hint of knowing... and Kenshin only wandered deeper into Soujirou's eyes.  
  
Dare he suspect that Soujirou had in mind who their enemy was?  
  
He couldn't tell him. No... Soujirou knew it would be wrong to involve Himura-san and his peaceful family with affairs of his own. And yet when the daggers had attempted to attack Kamiya-san, had it not already made clear that now Himura-san and company were no longer onlookers to this game?  
  
Well well well, Soujirou would never have thought how much one could hold hate against another. Maybe Soujirou had made a wrong decision then, but to pursue it till now, to here... ? He brushed another look by Himura- san, wondering if he ever had to make decisions like he had then during his period as a Rurouni. Anyway, Himura-san was looking hilariously serious, very truly so indeed, for Soujirou could not believe how Himura-san could look so serious even though he was thoroughly drenched in tomato sauce.  
  
He couldn't stand it anymore, trembling with uncontrollable tremors of laughter. He bowed his head and hid his laughing face behind his clasped hands, avoiding the weird stare of Himura-san.  
  
But then again, Soujirou himself was in quite a tomatoed state...  
  
"Wh... What happened to my dojo?!"  
  
Kenshin and Soujirou looked up at an exasperated Kaoru who was just re-entering the dojo from her previous exit. From the way she looked, if anything did happen before, she hid all traces of knowing, only displaying the absolute look of disbelief and frustration as she stepped into the dojo again, and for the first time, noticed how pathetic it was currently looking like...  
  
She shifted her glance from the red-stained floor to the two guys dripping tomato sauce on her dojo floor. Already her bokken was in sight... One could see the dark clouds gathering above Kaoru's head, blazing an unprecedented amount of lightning bolts as she tightened the grip she had on the bokken.  
  
Immediately, Kenshin ducked, knowing full well the fate in store for him should he not do that. Soujirou however, was in full ignorance of anything else, and stood there as the bamboo sword came crashing down...  
  
"BAKA!" Kaoru screamed, thwacking Soujirou repeatedly on his now very sore head, while a dazed Soujirou stood and let her hit. "You've ruined my beautiful dojo floors!" She swung the bokken again. "And for a punishment you shall now remain here and clean up the house till I'm satisfied!!"  
  
"Owo wo owOWWW!" Soujirou tried helplessly to release himself from Kaoru's vice-like grip. "Ka... Kamiya-san! I... understand! I'll stay I'll stay! I'll do all the housework in the house if you'd please... just stop hitting me please!"  
  
Kaoru mustered up the last of her final fury to lift the boy up into the air (amazing! How does she do that?) and send him crashing into the corridors outside the dojos. Kenshin merely smiled impishly and held his hands behind, remaining rigid as he informed Kaoru, "Your shower is ready."  
  
"Kisama... will this snow ever stop?"  
  
"DON'T, complain." Sano snarled at Yahiko. "It's bad enough I have to perch you on my shoulders to avoid getting you lost, and now you're trying to tell me about stopping snow? Leave those cursings to me!"  
  
Yahiko merely boiled up and shouted. "YOU DARE SCOLD ME?" Fangs appeared from beneathe his lips and instantly Sano's head was being chewed on. Well, they didn't hurt the skull-thick Sano, naturally, and the tall teenager merely continued wandering about.  
  
Until he saw the light of a lamp ahead...  
  
The snow hit down harder, and Sano squinted. The lamp was approaching them, as if it's orginal target had been them all the time...  
  
And Megumi stepped into sight.  
  
"Humph." She brushed away a drop of snow landed on her hair. "Some kind of help this lamp is turning out to be..." She grumbled out loud, to no one in particular, when she spotted the two figures standing in front of her... two heads?  
  
"Hey, vixen!" Sano acknowledged before she dropped the lamp in shock. Recovering quickly, however, Megumi narrowed her eyes but decided against stuffing the lamp down Sano's throat there and then. "What're you doing here?" Sano inquired, while Yahiko merely stopped biting and looked at Megumi.  
  
"Same thing you are." Megumi retorted. "I'm looking for the dojo... aaaah... I wonder if Ken-san is all right..." She dreamily held a hand to her cheek, then exploding into a mischievious fox laughter. "And since I won't be expecting any patients in this weather..."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"... and since I need someone to pay me the debt of knocking down a door and subsequently a pillar..."  
  
"It WASN'T my fault!"  
  
And so the trio trottled towards what they thought was the direction leading to the Kamiya dojo, beset with furious debates of anything and everything...  
  
"Here you go." Kenshin dumped the last of the household clean-up materials in front of a /very/ resigned looking Soujirou, and smiled. "You can start with the dojo main grounds then follow up with the corridors, but in any case... you'd better clean it all up before Kaoru-dono finishes her shower..." He lowered his tone to a harsh whisper, looking in the direction of the shower room.  
  
Sighing a light-hearted sigh, Soujirou picked up a broom and got to work. After three sweeps, he looked up at Himura-san standing by the side, immersed with thoughts of his own, and frowned a little. "Are you going to supervise me? Or just make sure I'm not lazing on the job?"  
  
"Nothing of the sort..." Kenshin smiled widely, holding up both his hands. "I was just wondering whether I could see if Yahiko is all right outside in the snow..."  
  
Instantly, Soujirou's face brightened. "Sure! I'll go, you take over sweeping and I'll make sure I bring him back."  
  
And instantly too, the hilt of a sakabatou 'DOING!"ed on his head.  
  
"Over my dead body."  
  
Frankly, Soujirou got out of his stupor a little too quicker than Kenshin expected. So poor little Himura-san could only gap in surprise as Soujirou grabbed onto the hilt of the sakabatou and for the second time in that day, claimed the sword.  
  
"You were saying, Himura-san?" He grinned widely. Kenshin merely narrowed his eyes with a lopsided frown and got into ready stance in where he stood, the sheath of the sword in hand.  
  
"I said, 'Over my dead body'," Kenshin repeated, then smiled. "And I add, 'If the dojo gets messier than this, you shall be the one cleaning it up'..."  
  
In a few swift moments, nothing was seen other than a few blurs jumping around the walls of the dojo, creating tremendous hairline cracks on the floor and actually bringing down some of the ceiling concrete... Sounds of metal hitting against metal could be lavished from every echo of the room...  
  
... and Kaoru wasn't very pleased at this. She sat in the bathtub, silently contemplating getting her hands on one of those gaijin explosives then setting the entire dojo on fire, Soujirou and Kenshin inclusive... but shrugged the thought off in a mere instance.  
  
/Is it just me, or am I just getting goofier and goofier.../ She twirled the water into little hurricanes with her fingers, splashing a few drops in overflow. More metal clashing sounds... and something that sounds like Kenshin going, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu... Ryuu Tsui... OUCH!".  
  
Oh well. One Rurouni was bad enough... now she has two under her wings. Not that she didn't like it, of course, she in fact most heartily welcomed this, however much it may seem otherwise. Rurounis were really starting to stray into her dojo in astounding numbers... not to mention stay in her dojo... even under her invitation.  
  
Ah well. She'll forgive the two silly Rurounis probably fighting each other to no end in her main dojo for now...  
  
... if only she knew what her main dojo looked like now...  
  
The two opponents did a dead stare at each other, panting like wild dogs on the loose preying on the same target. Soujirou ignored the perspiration trickling down his cheeks and gripped tighter onto the hilt of Himura-san's sakabatou... staring at the red-headed man while he was at it.  
  
Of course, Kenshin himself wasn't near anywhere on giving up point. He gathered his sword sheath into both hands, wearily planting himself into a guarding block again. Lucky for him, Soujirou was wielding his sakabatou, otherwise, he'd have to pay a visit to the sheath-maker soon...  
  
Both parties took one further step forward, face clad in all the entire world's seriousness...  
  
... and promptly fell onto the dojo floors.  
  
"I... (pant pant)... I can't... (pant) do this anymore..." Kenshin's muffled voice came from the floor.  
  
"Neither... (pant pant pant) can I... (small innocent laughter)" Soujirou's reply came mumbling.  
  
"Next time... next time you (pant) need a sparring (pant pant) partner, get Sano..." Kenshin offered, trying to help himself up from the floors. He succeeded and promptly recoiled into a sitting position. "And... and just try to avoid grabbing my (pant) saka (pant) ba (pant pant) dou all the time would (pant) you?"  
  
Soujirou tried to do the same, and merely got himself on all fours. "I'll try, Himura-san..."  
  
They surrounded themselves in mutual silence, slowly trying to catch the breath they lost a long time ago due to overly exerting their inhuman speed in friendly sparring battles.  
  
Finally, the eerie, snowy silence was broken by Kenshin.  
  
"I'll be at the kitchen. I think I need to heat up for dinner. And /YOU/," Kenshin looked at the dojo main hall, shaking his head in disbelief. "you had better clean this place up as best as you can..."  
  
Soujirou stood up just as Kenshin had and gave an assuring smile. He'd have to do all these housework anyhow, so why not make the place messier in the first place? Turning it into an eyesore then smoothing it out was one of Soujirou's newly discovered passion for perfection... that was partly why he fought Himura-san in the first place.  
  
And the other reason, was to make sure Himura-san was still the Himura-san in Kyoto... so that he could be assured that Himura-san wouldn't be easily taken in by Soujirou's old enemy...  
  
He watched Himura-san disappear into the kitchen, the latter shaking his head continuously at Soujirou's innocent naivity...  
  
/Just something I have too much of, Himura-san.../ Soujirou mentally excused himself. /... something I have too much of.../  
  
Oh no! Himura-san's sakabatou! Soujirou turned to want to chase after Kenshin to return the sword, but a humongous crash outside the sliding doors stopped him in his tracks.  
  
"Woah! I don't believe you found it!"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Woah... what language for a doctor!"  
  
After what seemed like milleniums of searching and digging themselves through the tunnel of snow filled carpets in Tokyo, the trio of Sanosuke, Yahiko and Megumi finally got to their destination, Kamiya dojo...  
  
"They left the door open." Yahiko whistled and strode through the dojo sliding doors, standing in the misty front courtyards of the dojo. The snow was starting to get consistant, so their eyes had quickly adjusted to all these eye jamming interference. Sanosuke and Megumi followed in soon after, Megumi still with her lamp.  
  
"People tend to get forgetful." Sanosuke offered.  
  
"I guess they do..."  
  
They walked along the courtyards, happy that they were in familiar grounds finally, and knowing that wherever they walked here, it would eventually lead to the dojo main house, no doubt... until...  
  
Yahiko stopped as his left foot squished into the soft snow, making them scream a groan of displeasure. He stopped and looked down at what he was stepping on.  
  
"Sanosuke."  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Have you ever heard of red snow?"  
  
"Red snow?" This time it was Megumi's voice.  
  
"Yes. Red snow."  
  
"No, I've never heard of red snow."  
  
"So what's this all about red snow?"  
  
Simultaneously, three pairs of eyes darted to the grounds in which Yahiko's left foot was stuck deep in, and noticed the dark hue of red which seeped and spread a little wider as Yahiko attempted to shift the weight of his leg around.  
  
Red... snow?  
  
The fishbone fell out of Sano's mouth, Yahiko's face facefaulted and Megumi dropped her lamp as well as her jaw.  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
"Ken-san!"  
  
And in a flurry of feet movement dislodged the three of them onto the main corridors, looking in on a very very /very/ messy and dilapidilated room of what used to be a dojo main hall... And that noise they made while running to the dojo. It probably have woken the entire Tokyo by then...  
  
It was a young girl... boy? Dressed in blue and standing in the dojo rooms, which was by now an entire wreck. He was looking awkwardly comfortable in his surroundings despite being a mere stranger... or was he a stranger?  
  
The long-haired bishounen turned around to face the three new visitors with a look of plain innocence. Sanosuke remembered seeing a scene like this somewhere in Kyoto, and remembered clearly that the room Soujirou had been inhabitating was actually reduced to a familiar state as of now which he was staring at...  
  
Yet that wasn't all. Soujirou's blue clothes were tainted with dried scraps of red, some even on his face. His hands had the most red on them, and the most horrible sight which hit three of them in the face was...  
  
... he had Kenshin's sakabatou!  
  
If Kaoru wasn't here, Kenshin wasn't here, the entire place was reeking with red liquid and Soujirou had Kenshin's sakabatou...  
  
"Ah!" Soujirou immediately gave a warm smile. "You must be..."  
  
His sentences were cut short with the pouncing of the three on him in perfectly unplanned coordination.  
  
/Strange.../ Kenshin turned his head from the boiling pot to look in the direction of the dojo. /... thought I heard Soujirou screaming./ He listened again, then shrugged, observing the snow outside the bamboo barred windows in silence, fanning the flames under the pot. Somehow, there was this feeling of unassurance... something was missing...  
  
Kenshin snapped. /Oh my goodness... sakabatou!/ He checked promptly, and found only his sheath. Only then did he realize that he had forgotten to reclaim the sakabatou from the naughty Soujirou, and in an instance was up and towards the dojo.  
  
As he neared, yes, now Kenshin could /swear/ that he was hearing Soujirou screaming... but as to why, he still needed to find out... though he wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not...  
  
He found out anyway.  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAAA!" Soujirou's voice came resounding into his ear drums, threatening to shatter them. A cloud of dust had formed and he could faintly catch four figures wrestling among each other inside... no no, it was three figures wrestling against one poor soul...  
  
"What's the matter?" Kenshin asked, confused.  
  
"Himura-saaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Soujirou's voice went into eventual high-pitch. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!"  
  
Kenshin merely stood and watched with slight bemusement as his three SD friends beat up a very very /VERY/ resigned Soujirou. Finally, realizing that Soujirou was about to become a pancake on the dojo floors if he didn't interfere soon, Kenshin stamped his right feet loudly and gave his biggest 'AHEM'.  
  
Sano, Megumi and Yahiko all looked up.  
  
"KENSHIN!" Bellowed the two males.  
  
"KEN-SAN!" Went the female.  
  
And in an instance, Soujirou was forgotten. Kenshin started as the three headed for him instead, hands reached out, bent on finding his neck and then breaking it. The three of them looked absolutely horrid, like snow creature running rampant throughout the Kamiya dojo. At the same time, red specks of tomato sauce had been rubbed onto their snow-filled outfits, courtesy of Soujirou while he was struggling to get away from their assaults of course... so when Kaoru, with a towel at her hair, stepped into the dojo which was, by now, entirely ruined due to the surprise practice session Soujirou had with Kenshin...  
  
A scream so blood curling it could evaporize all your blood, rose into the mid-afternoon airs of the soft falling snow.  
  
The acts of the evening and the night were so... inconceivable, that it is perceived unsuitable for people as general. Just be known that Kaoru had thrown everyone out in the snow, then called them back again to engage their services as slaves to the Kamiya Dojo as usual... you don't want to know the details... and I'm too lazy for that too... (If I write more, I'll never finish the chapter...)  
  
The next day, Soujirou woke up to find that all the snow had stopped. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and gracefully stretched himself, throwing off the blanket Kamiya-san had agreed to lend him for the night if he'd promised to help fix the dojo the next day.  
  
He briefly glanced at the blurry outlines of the snow carpeted all over the dojo courtyards. There was nothing eerie about them, for they acted like and was really, just normal snow. Soujirou stared in silence at the pure white snow glistening in the slightly arose sun shining into his eyes, noticing that the clouds had cleared enough for the seemingly long gone ball of light to finally peek through.  
  
By the way, Soujirou had slept on the dojo main corridors. And yes, he had to do that because there was no other suitable place in the dojo to house another man. Yahiko had picked Kenshin, while Sano went ahead to the storage room and dusted a place for the night. Megumi merely camped in with Kaoru and Soujirou couldn't possibly sleep in the main dojo in such a mess so...  
  
... the corridors it was!  
  
Sweet Soujirou didn't forget his manners of course, and quietly folded the blanket and put it aside, while sliding into the front courtyards in all inaudibility.  
  
His first step off the dojo woodframe saw that he dropped all the way into the snow up to his ankles. Grimacing at how thick the snow was, he realized too that the snow had not fully diminished, merely reduced to quite a negligible amount and size.  
  
He took note of the noise he made by squishing the sandles into the snow, then walked all the way right up to the middle of the courtyards.  
  
/Where is it where is it???/ He frowned, bending down as he did to inspect the pure white surroundings. Everywhere, it was the same, and not a spot of imperfection marked the whiteness enclamping Soujirou now. He stood, wind whipping in his face and lashing out at his hair as he turned from this direction to that. Once again, he started to analyse the possible locus of the dagger yesterday, mapping the main dojo door then tracing an imaginary line...  
  
/SQUISH!/ Went the ice as Soujirou's hand dipped deep into it, feeling for anything metallic or whatever. A few moments of digging later, his hand emerged into the light again, Soujirou's eyes already concentrated on somewhere else. He did another invisible mapping, eyes darting quickly around the courtyards, familiarizing himself as much as possible. Walking to another possible spot, he plunged his other hand into it, feeling the bottoms for anything metallic or similarly made. There was nothing.  
  
And he repeated the process all over again, determined that nothing, not even this snow, was stopping him from finding the truth in the dagger.  
  
Kenshin yawned and got up, gently tugging Yahiko away from him. Boy that Yahiko really slept when he did! Kenshin gently smiled at the young and innocent look in him when he was asleep and not striving so hard to be strong and of some use...  
  
... not knowing that he as himself was already much use to Kenshin. To Kenshin, Yahiko was more than a mere pickpocket picked up from the streets... despite his lineage and all, Kenshin knew that Yahiko was, like Kaoru and so many others, representatives of the new era coming out fresh from the old. They lived in the peaceful era and they shall reside in it as long as Kenshin could help it.  
  
And for the danger he put them through, he would pull them out.  
  
In a swish of fabric, Kenshin grabbed his sakabatou and proceeded out of the room to prepare for the day before anyone else was up. He stopped as he entered the corridor, noticing that the skies were considerably clear and the sun was actually out. Best thing was, the snow had actually stopped, well, reduced anyway...  
  
There was a sound coming from the courtyards as Kenshin even stood there. He walked further into the corridors, noticing that he was reaching the corridor outside the dojo hall when he saw a stack of blankets neatly folded up in one side. Turning his head the other way, Soujirou was there, back-facing him and digging his hands into the snow as if for something.  
  
He watched the young boy and wondered why he ever chose to live the life of a Rurouni, just like he himself had. He wondered why Soujirou never had a chance to live the life Kenshin had wanted the new era to be, so that the answer would be clear without having to wander around for it... Soujirou was, by right, someone who belonged to the survivors of the new era... why was he still surrounded with the air and ideals of the old? It was wrong... all wrong...  
  
But he couldn't blame Soujirou for that... Soujirou had not wanted it to be so too. Somewhere in Soujirou, just somewhere, there was a child who had been suppressed. Things he had been taught with, they all led to surviving in a world which no longer existed, which no longer held importance to people of peace. Shishio Makoto...  
  
Kenshin stopped in his thoughts, noticing that Soujirou had stopped digging in the snow and was staring at something. Now was the time to make his move and announce his entrance.  
  
It was him all right.  
  
The dagger he held in his hands were gripped tighter. The strings were still attached, and the blade was still gleaming like yesterday, as if it had a debt to be collected from Soujirou, but Soujirou's eyes spelt a totally different feel to realization...  
  
... it held fear...  
  
Although he no longer believed that 'the strong survive and the weak perish' was the truth in living, neither did he totally discard it. There /was/ some truth in that phrase. Sometimes, the strong /does/ survive while the weak /would/ perish. It was all very hard to say. But...  
  
Unconciously, Soujirou wrapped the end of the string to his finger and released the dagger from his grasp. It slipped, blade first, towards the snow-filled grounds... Then as Soujirou jerked his fingers upwards suddenly, the dagger BOUNCED upwards back to Soujirou's hands and then fell fluidly towards the floor again, bouncing back up when Soujirou repeated the motion. Author: Behold. Japan's first yo-yo.  
  
And as Kenshin watched on, standing on the main corridor of the dojo, Soujirou started to perform stunts with the dagger! Jerking it into motion in all directions he wanted to, while the dagger merely followed the given instructions, cutting through the air with a whizzing danger which told Kenshin that he had been wise to stop there at the corridor and not walking right behind where Soujirou was.  
  
Finally, Soujirou stopped and twirled the string around an extended index finger, the dagger was eventually forced to wrap itself around the finger. He turned and was surprised to see Himura-san staring at him.  
  
"Good morning." Kenshin greeted wryly, staring at the dagger in Soujirou's hands with much interest.  
  
"Good morning." Soujirou replied, looking at Himura-san, who was now looking at Soujirou with the look which clearly emitted... /tell me what's going on/. Soujirou merely sighed and pushed Kenshin to one side, settling himself beside the folded blanket with a heavy thump.  
  
Kenshin settled down beside him, sakabatou in hand.  
  
"You know who he is, Soujirou." Kenshin began.  
  
Soujirou allowed his expression to be covered from view, twirling the string which attached the dagger in his fingers, looking down on the floor. "I... I... don't... don't know, Himura-san."  
  
Kenshin frowned. Soujirou /knew/, but he just wasn't ready to tell him what was going on. He narrowed his eyes and wondered whether further interrogations would bring him anywhere.  
  
He was shocked at how he replied. Inside, a tiny voice was telling him to, practically screaming at him to tell Himura-san... tell him all that was going on, and how a mistake he had made in the initial parts of his journey had probably changed a person's life forever...  
  
But it was just getting too much for him to bear. Although he needed someone to share it with, he just couldn't get his mouth going in motion. He needed help... he desperately did, for the memories would not stop haunting him until all was settled... but how to settle this mess?  
  
How could Himura-san understand this? It was too sticky for anyone to fully understand... perhaps walking away from all these was a better choice. He would not tell Himura-san. As long as he could hold it within him, he would not tell Himura-san. And he would have to leave the dojo soon, for staying would endanger Himura-san and his family... as if Soujirou himself wasn't trouble enough already... maybe he would steal away... tonight would be good, now that the snow had stopped being a hindrance and now that the dojo was almost finished and fixed, freeing him from any obligations to this family and Tokyo in general.   
  
A few more seconds of observation, Kenshin sighed and got up from his previous sitting position, casting a softly exasperated glance in Soujirou's way before heading towards the kitchen.  
  
He wanted answers, but the hurt in Soujirou's eyes was far worse than what he thought he could expect from the strong boy. If anything, he knew where he'd seen this look before, and he knew how such a sensitive issue could not be pursued any further, unless the person himself wishes to speak and share...  
  
Soujirou raised his eyes into the skies, the clear blue skies... but could not see beyond it. Was life just so? A superficial glean on the very deep waters of true human nature? Would ten years journey really bring him the answer? Did Himura-san already find the answer so that he was comfortable enough to pursue personal happiness finally?  
  
Sometimes, being a Rurouni really hurt... especially at the brains. Now that the issue was refreshed in memory, it would be hard to put down. Conflict, one after another would arise and finally engulf Soujirou so much the hole to communication would once again close up.  
  
The daggers... if HE had come so far, certainly HE would have something of great importance to want to use against Soujirou. Maybe he had a great and important message that could only be conveyed through some kind of stupid code through all these dagger throwing and rebounding back? Yeh, knowing HIM, HE probably did. HE came up with the most ridiculous games sometimes and expects everybody to endorse in it with the most wonderful compliments... HE was lucky Soujirou didn't have a sword with him in his journey...  
  
Suddenly snapping out of his sarcastic stumber, Soujirou's eyes widened, only to refocus on the blur outlines of the dojo walls and roofs.  
  
He buried his head deeply in his hands, shaking the former as he did. /What am I thinking about?/ He inwardly groaned. /Just WHAT was I thinking about... ?/  
  
To his left, footsteps were softly approaching. Pressing his lips and all feelings of frustration inside him, he looked up at a weird-faced Kamiya-san.  
  
"What're you still doing here? Go go, clean up the dojo! You won't get breakfast till you do!"  
  
Soujirou stood up, brushing his hakama of dojo dirt as he did, smiling his most brilliant morning smiles. He gave a nod of agreement before Kaoru stepped into the main dojo halls, and Soujirou turned to follow...  
  
... just in time to stop another dagger hurled straight at Kaoru.  
  
  
END PART 3  
24/5/98  
Revised 30/5/98  
  



	5. Chapter Four

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
Minna - I don't write yaoi fics, so this is strictly a NON-YAOI fic. Yaoi lovers beware your disappoint, non-yaoi lovers, this is for you. :) Those who proceed with my warnings, don't say I didn't. :)  
  
Kodoku yori mo motto sabishii mono wa  
[Something that is sadder than lonliness]  
Sono kodoku ni kizukanai koto  
[Is not realizing what lonliness is]  
Donna hieta yoru no daichi mo sono shita ni  
[No matter how cold the night is, under the ground]  
Atataka sa o kakushite iru no sa  
[There is warmth hidden]  
Kuchibue ga Kikoeru (I can hear whistling) by Hiei (Hiyama Noboyuki). Translation by Korogi Nagisa-san.  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part Four: Conflicts of a cornered  
  
  
Despite an injured left forearm, Soujirou tightened his grip on the dagger, afraid that this one would fly away just like all the others had, previously. Beside him, Kamiya-san walked into the dojo with a slight whistle in tone, oblivious to Soujirou's plight behind her, while the latter simply pursed his lips and winced as the left forearm wound tore open...  
  
The snow glistened, and nothing else was observed. Soujirou relaxed, not realizing how much he had tensed himself or how much his brows had frowned during those disturbing seconds. Gently prying the dagger away from his left palm, he started.  
  
There was a note attached to it.  
  
"Kaoru-dono, breakfast is ready." Kenshin beamed as Kaoru stepped into the kitchen, frowning. Being his usual observant self (of course), Kenshin took a step closer and gently inquired, "Is something the matter?"  
  
Kaoru snapped out of her slight slumber and grinned maniacally. "Is something the matter? AHAHAHAHAHAAA! No, I don't think so... I don't..."  
  
Suddenly pausing, Kaoru's glance fell the the ground instead. Unknown to Kenshin, Kaoru's little talk with Soujirou yesterday night in his abscence had stirred up quite so many emotions within the young girl, she was starting to receive the first bout of repercussions...  
  
Nevertheless, Kenshin the greatest actor when it came to playing dumb, had a warm, chiding smile. "You know, Kaoru-dono, you sound exactly like Soujirou when you laughed just now."  
  
"Soujirou..." Kaoru repeated with her bowed head, surprising Kenshin with her tone of concern. The young girl lifted her head up from the ground to pierce her stare through the doorframe leading to the main dojo, where Soujirou could still be seen, holding onto a piece of something.  
  
If looks could kill, the paper Soujirou was holding would be french fries by now.  
  
"There's something wrong with Soujirou..." Kaoru stammered, as if uncertain. In her lack of concentration, Kenshin had already stepped forward towards the lone figure of Soujirou. Shocked, Kaoru reached a hand out to stop Kenshin from advancing. One had to have their own moments of privacy, and if Kaoru herself could understand this, what was Kenshin doing then, by walking forward in slow, deliberate steps to break Soujirou's private train of thought?  
  
She could do nothing but follow meekly and slowly behind.  
  
Kenshin stopped with an acceptable distance between him and Soujirou. Was that Soujirou's hands faintly trembling? No, that was not important now... Kenshin coughed loudly, and made his presence known.  
  
He knew this was a ridiculous question, but he was asking it anyway.  
  
"Is there something wrong?"  
  
The young boy shivered a little while more as Kaoru and Kenshin watched on in absolute anticipation. Finally, he stopped shaking and lifted his fearful eyes to face the duo addressing him. Swallowing hard, he barely managed to eke out a smile and a shaking "I guess I am..."  
  
Kenshin narrowed his eyes. Soujirou needed to talk. He needed to talk desperately... but he was a stubborn boy, and he refused to talk. It would probably take alot more than just a few questions to finally purse out the reason behind his jittery nature now, but Kenshin was willing to try. To be able to grant another the fruits of peace in this new era, Kenshin was willing to try anything.  
  
Behind him, Kaoru-dono suppressed a gasp.  
  
"Soujirou!" She reached forward and practically pushed Kenshin to one side. Soujirou's eyes turned round and wondering. "Soujirou, your wound is open!" Kaoru grabbed Soujirou's left hand. Kenshin watched the poor boy wince as Kaoru-dono dragged him off, muttering every single way of torture should he tear his wound again, and for the second time noticed the piece of paper in Soujirou's hands.  
  
Now where has he seen that before?  
  
He frowned, but went his way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. It was going to be a busy day today... with a few more extra guests. Now he just wondered whether there was going to be enough vegetables for lunch... or maybe they should just go to Akabeko for meals... wait, there wasn't enough money...  
  
"OEI! Kenshin!" Yahiko's voice broke his train of thoughts. He smiled warmly at the young boy, who kicked away a piece of dojo wood lying on the floor and made his way to where Kenshin was standing. "So, what's for breakfast today?"  
  
Kenshin laughed at the irony of the sentence. Was it just so that Yahiko ran out of things to say? Or was it just so that the default sentence when everyone woke up every morning was, "What's for breakfast?"?  
  
Their voices faded into the background as they disappeared into the back of the dojo, dissolving into the shadows of the house. The birds chirped their tune for the morning. A wordless tune. An empty tune. It was almost foreboding and foreshadowing...  
  
It was as hollow as the day itself, basking in the empty noises of the numb air.  
  
The Kenshingumi was seated within the mess of the main dojo hall, enjoying a simple meal of veggies and whatnots. Soujirou also joined in, and was once again his usual self, laughing and giggling and making everyone else feel good. Sanosuke was, of course, glad that he could pinch off another free meal from Kaoru, while Megumi ate in silence, occasionally shooting a few flirtatious comments to Ken-san and end up quarreling with Kaoru, adding more to the humorous atmosphere. Yahiko was, needless to say, still angry with Soujirou for making off with his shinai and was now holding onto it for dear life, despite Soujirou apologizing repeatedly for his deed. Kenshin simply smiled and ate in silence, keeping his peace and calm as the balancing act for this almost over-bearing group...  
  
Soujirou laughed in mock again when Yahiko scolded him (in a fun way) for making off with his shinai for the tenth time that morning. He stuffed his mouth with stuff to eat so he could observe the Kenshingumi in silence.  
  
They were very united. Despite having little quarrels here and there they were really, truly a family built together without any blood ties, but with the ultimate familarity. If no one asked for family names, these people here would without a doubt be mistaken for an entire family... a peaceful family... fun and loving, kind and caring... a little quarrelsome but only because they wanted to maintain the joyous air...  
  
He smiled. He had never felt this before, but the air of warmth glowed through his bones even. He looked at Himura-san, slightly envious of him for building such a close relationship with a wonderful family... then pitied himself. Being adopted into a family who had no care for his welfare and who always treated him with violence... Soujirou knew nothing about family warmth. He only knew about putting on emotional masks to deceive all those around him so he could survive... and surviving was so hard...  
  
Soujirou put another piece of vegetable into his mouth, slowly digesting the food as well as the information. Himura-san had found his good family. But Soujirou had not... maybe Soujirou ALMOST did when he met /them/ during that phase of his journey, but it ended so fast, Soujirou had no time to cry for the loss even...  
  
... and now /he/ was back... pursuing Soujirou. He was intent on ruining Soujirou, and if Soujirou didn't know better, /he/ didn' want Soujirou to enjoy any life with anyone's surrogate family...  
  
So maybe that was why /he/ attacked Himura-san's family. He thought Soujirou belonged to Himura-san's family... so he wanted to destroy them, destroy them all and leave Soujirou in the same ruin he was then...  
  
Soujirou started at his thoughts.  
  
/He thought I belonged to Himura-san's family.../  
  
The young boy looked around at the people around him, still eating and talking with no thought for the food or anything else, merely wanting to bask in the strong bonds of love probably unaware to themselves. Himura- san's family...  
  
/If an outsider thought I belonged to Himura-san's family.../  
  
The chopsticks slipped from his hands, but he managed to catch them before they clattered to the floor.  
  
/... did it mean that Himura-san has accepted me into his family?/  
  
Soujirou trembled slightly at the thought. A family to belong to... that sounded so weird... even Shishio-san had not offered a real solid warmth in his organization... and for someone like Soujirou, who had never experienced the bursting effects of having a loving family, this theory was really very weird...  
  
But was it true? Did Himura-san and his companions see Soujirou as one of their own? Even though they were on opposing sides in the past? Yet that was merely because viewpoints were different. Now that Soujirou had amended his viewpoint, did it really make him part of Himura-san's...  
  
... Family?  
  
"Here, Soujirou." A voice cut his thoughts into half. Kaoru smiled at the shocked facade of Soujirou, large eyes staring with a look of amazement. "Have some more veggies."  
  
"Yeh!" Sanosuke shouted from the other side of the table. "Better take them before the little doodle here finishes everything!" He flashed a thumbs-up sign at Soujirou.  
  
While the mentioned subject Yahiko immediately jumped onto Sano and bit his head. "Who me? A little doodle??"  
  
Megumi laughed from the other corner of the table, clasping her hands over as the two fought it out. "You're lucky Kaoru isn't cooking today, Soujirou..." She winked in her usual flirtatious way. "... her cooking could kill /anybody/ in a duel..."  
  
Immediately Kaoru's expression changed. Confronting the still laughing Megumi, they began to engage in the competition of words, trying to edge the other out by pure wit...  
  
... while Kenshin tried desperately to stop the breakfast fray.  
  
Soujirou smiled.  
  
It sure felt good being treated as one of them. An uncompromising treatment, where his belonging was not just because of someone else's benefit, nor was Soujirou anymore trapped feeling like a manipulated pawn serving for what gratitude he owed for... Shishio-san...  
  
Soujirou Soujirou... will you still depart from these people who see you as their own?  
  
Himura-san's laughter bowled over the entire house as Yahiko was thrown onto him when Sano attempted to tear him out of his hair.  
  
/One day... just one more day and I'll leave.../  
  
The day was bright, and the sun was clear. It was definitely a better sign than having pure white droplets of whatnots flowing into your eyes at every one second's difference. Kenshin straightened the threads of the white garments he held in his hands, smiling at the chilling breeze gently licking in his face, coupled by the awkwardly strong sting of sun shining from above. Wind and sun, this would make a good day for hanging out all the clothes that didn't get dry last night...  
  
A few noises evolved from the distance, so he naturally assumed that it was Kaoru forcing the boys to dust up the dojo. Chuckling a little, he couldn't help but marvel at the tremendous amount of energy and thick skin this girl had...  
  
... and yes, still as innocent as ever, Kaoru-dono... no matter how stubborn her actions professed her to be, of course.  
  
Kenshin flipped another garment over the string hung up for the exact purpose of drying. He spread it out evenly over the string and smoothed the ruffled edges, bending down to pick up another piece of garment, this time a little more stiff, in total coordination with the sudden breeze which whipped up.  
  
Except he didn't really stiffen because of the wind.  
  
He was being watched.  
  
Kenshin wasn't sure who was there, but there was definitely a foul presence outside the walls of the dojo. The calm presence of the snow and the icy silence of the streets almost devoid Kenshin of this privilege of knowing, but all these years of perked-up senses was not for nothing, and Kenshin knew that himself.  
  
Footsteps were approaching. He merely shot a stare over his slitted eyes to the direction of the sound.  
  
It was Soujirou.  
  
There was something wrong with the young man's eyes. A glimmer of fear perhaps, but otherwise everything about the young man's demure was fine and appropriate. His hands were locked behind him as he approached Kenshin.  
  
Soujirou bent to collect a piece of laundry. "Let me help, Himura- san." His quiet, softly authorative voice stated plainly. Kenshin didn't need to give a sign of approval, for Soujirou had already flipped the piece of garment over an empty space on the string, carefully ebbing out the rough edges.  
  
The winds collected the folds of the pristine white sheets in it's path, whipping it all around. Soujirou bent down to pick up another piece of garment, his eyes deep and unreadable, when he uttered a small, almost inaudible sentence.  
  
"You feel him too, Himura-san?"  
  
Kenshin had no reason to jump five feet out of his skin for Soujirou's insight upon this matter, so he merely shrugged and tried to pin down the flying pieces of garment. That was not all he was going to do, of course, for he could see Soujirou totally tense up as he grabbed the cloth in his hands, almost refusing to let go or stand up from his hunched position. "Not now, Soujirou. We have to bide our time."  
  
Kenshin smiled, facing the white sheets, not caring whether Soujirou heard or not. He suddenly realized that he had no need to worry for the boy at all. After all, if he was to grow up, he had to do it himself. Kenshin wouldn't always be there to warn him about the dos and don'ts of a Rurouni, finding out himself would be much more entertaining...  
  
... and destructive, of course. But that was the only way to learn... the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu style...  
  
Kenshin snickered as a scenario with Hiko flashed past his mind.  
  
Soujirou merely proceeded to peg the sheets down onto the string beside him, in total silence.  
  
He wondered, briefly, what could amuse Himura-san so much to make him want to smile into a clear white sheet of nothing, with eyes closed, no less. Once again, the man's words rebounded clearly off the four corners of his brain walls, seeping in as he even gathered himself to stand up.  
  
/Not now, Soujirou. WE have to bide OUR time./  
  
We? Our? Himura-san's family and... me?  
  
It was still hard to swallow and accept of course... but he felt stupid. If he could advice Kamiya-san on how to accept why Kenshin wouldn't completely be attached to the Tokyo family, why couldn't he convince himself on the same topic with a slight twist? He shook his head, not knowing what to do or what to think, only standing up, slightly dazed from thinking too much, and then reaching out to peg the sheets to the string.  
  
/Not know, Soujirou.../ He plaintatively warned himself. /You cannot feel that you belong to a family right at this moment Soujirou.../ He sneaked a glance at Himura-san, still chuckling over something very amusing. /You'll only get them in to more trouble, get yourself into more guilt... so get REAL, Soujirou!!/  
  
Slightly, he could feel the presence of the spy still outside the dojo walls, and he hated it. He hated feeling threatened, and he hated making others feel threatened. But there was something about these emotions which always brought his logic to a downfall, leading to more sorrow than joy... like... like...  
  
Kenshin continued staring at Soujirou, very /very/ amused. He knew that he hadn't really gotten to know Soujirou very well, and probably wouldn't be any time soon, but this was a feeling of nostalgic... deja vu even...  
  
Soujirou was pegging clothes pegs to thin air in particular. So absorbed in his own thoughts, everything else was secondary to him was it? Didn't this feel exactly like what Hiko and Kenshin shared when they were training in the mountains many many years ago?  
  
A sudden thought struck Kenshin. Maybe he could? The Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu... ?  
  
It was shaken off as quickly as it came. Soujirou? Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu? Naaaaaaaah... but now that the thought was raised Kenshin was certainly going to spend a considerable amount of time pondering over this particular point, even though the answer was already set.  
  
He just wished he could have met the boy earlier, then maybe teach him, like what Hiko taught Kenshin, the rules of living, the morals of existence... what it really meant to wield a sword and fight... why was it necessary and when was it not...  
  
First, to snap sweet Soujirou out of his slumber...  
  
He watched, his emotions guarded carefully.  
  
He will pay. Soujirou will pay dearly for everything he ever did, and was ever going to do.  
  
Snarling, he noticed the girl emerge from the dojo doors, towards the other two doing the laundry. Housework was never Soujirou's forte was it? Amusing thought that he'd choose this time to undertake it...  
  
He smirked.  
  
It was fine. After all, Soujirou would never get another chance to do any housework anymore.  
  
Never.  
  
He grinned again, playing with his 'pets'.  
  
"AH! Soujirou! So there you are!"  
  
Kenshin turned to observe Kaoru-dono make her way towards the duo, squishing snow in the event. Even Soujirou had shaken himself out of the realms of his pondering thoughts to wince and face the girl with a slight flush in his cheeks.  
  
"Ka... Kamiya-san..."  
  
Ah. Good. Now I don't have to snap Soujirou out of his slumber. Kenshin gave his biggest and widest smile.  
  
Kaoru came closer, clucking her tongue as she did. Judging from her expressions however, she was nowhere near the degree of amusement the noise was making her to be.  
  
Soujirou braced himself for the lecture in stall for him, which he already had a name for. 10 Reasons Why You Have No Reason To Suddenly Leave The Dojo When It Hasn't Been Fixed Up Satisfiably Yet. Kamiya-san stepped into close range and folded her arms gently, chin tilted in a defiant attempt to look as tall and menancing as possible.  
  
"You two,"  
  
Kenshin's eyes widened in effect. I'm involved too?  
  
"are hopeless."  
  
"Ara?"  
  
"Oro?"  
  
Kaoru shrugged. "I don't know if it's just because you two look like girls that you two are acting like one, or if it's just because the hidden rules of a Rurouni states it." She faced the two confused Rurounis, triumph obvious in her gleaming eyes. "But anyway, I just came to tell you two hopeless, completely-in-love-with-housework men that the dojo's quite patched up by now..."  
  
Soujirou blinked, as Kaoru threw him what seemed like a glare. "No thanks to you, of course..."  
  
He could only sheepishly grin. "Sorry..." He muttered, right hand automatically reaching out to scratch at the bandages binding his wound on the left forearm. It was sort of an unconscious movement, but it did have reason behind it. For since this morning, the wound had began to itch like crazy, only that he was polite enough not to scratch it all the time.  
  
Unfortunately, our great doctor Takani Megumi was walking around the courtyards at the moment.  
  
"How DARE you!"  
  
Soujirou was whiffed off in a smoke storm before Kenshin could even pull off his Ama Kakeru Ryuu no Hirameki. "Megumi-dono!" Kenshin started after a while, slightly dazed at the speed Soujirou had been swept off in. He got a reply of all the medical recipes Megumi knew, travelling through the air to perfectly demonstrate what a mess Soujirou had gotten himself into now.  
  
"And you should know better than to do that! What if it got infected?!?"  
  
"Takani-san... it's in bandages..."  
  
"I don't CARE if it's in bandages! See! The blood is seeping through already! You don't know WHAT could happen with these injuries... skin peeling off, bones turning green, the entire arm rotting..."  
  
"Takani-san!"  
  
"... slowly spreading through your body, smell like a corpse, all because of one careless mistake in scratching an open wound which hasn't healed..."  
  
"TAKANI-SAN!"  
  
Kenshin sweatdropped. Soujirou was desperate by now, judging from the tone in his voice. He listened as they disappeared into a quieter and more 'sterilized' place to take a look at Soujirou's arm. Kaoru-dono's facial expressions were nowhere near sympathatic, too.  
  
"Well, Megumi-san can take care of that bob-head." She quietly stated, her eyes snapped shut from since Megumi started her prescription. Kenshin smiled, not knowing who was there to appreciate it, but smiled anyway. He pegged the last piece of laundry to the strings and then took the bucket in his arms, turning to Kaoru-dono, who was still standing there in observation.  
  
He took her hand.  
  
"Come." His gentle smile warmed his expressions as Kaoru looked up at him in absolute surprise. "Let's continue that cooking lesson." Kenshin gently reminded, watching Kaoru's face light up a million watts, nodding in high frequency as she did.  
  
As if her red cheeks weren't enough to show her excitement.  
  
The dojo looked...  
  
... horrible. To say the least. Sanosuke and Yahiko had been mainly working on it under Kaoru's almost non-existant supervision, and it ended up looking...  
  
... horrible.  
  
Sano nailed the last piece of wood to cover up the broken wall which had made the dojo windier than usual, giving a small triumphant noise as he did. He stepped back to enjoy his masterpiece, along with all the others. So far so good. They'd managed to patch up all the holes, paint over a few of the cracks and completely fixed up the floor as well as cleaned up the place. Now, if there was anything else to do...  
  
Sighing, Yahiko chose a place in the now much cleared up dojo grounds to sit down in. "If Soujirou chooses to wreck up the dojo again, I am not going to be the one to fix it up." He adamantly decided, sliding his eyes shut in awareness of his tired form.  
  
"Oh well." Sano took his hand to the back of his head. "At least this place isn't as inhumanely warped up as Soujirou's room in Shishio's hideout..."  
  
There was a spark of interest generated in Yahiko's eyes. He pouted a little and then looked up at Sanosuke. "Sano, just... how powerful is... Soujirou?"  
  
Sano drew in a huge tank of air. Did not Yahiko already knew from what Chou had told them when they were in Aoiya? Never mind... it wouldn't do harm retelling the tale of the fastest fighters around... "Soujirou is... very powerful. When he was in his emotionless state, Kenshin could not hope to defeat him, merely to tire him."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"He... was... probably still is, faster than Kenshin. But he still lost to Kenshin during their second duel. His sword was shattered, so was his ideals... and he no longer came all smiles just. He began to feel... then he decided to take up this challenge as a rurouni. To journey for ten years just like Kenshin, without the sword, to find out the 'truth', or so to say..."  
  
"Just like Kenshin..." A meaningless mumble evolved from under Yahiko's breath, transpiring through his silent thoughts. Suddenly, he hopped onto his feet and revealed his cheerful eyes, once again with renewed optimitism. "ALL RIGHT! Then I'm no longer angry at him for sniping my shinai or taking Kenshin's attention away."  
  
Sanosuke laughed. Did Kenshin ever give anybody absolute attention other than Kaoru? He shook his head, settling next to a pile of wood while Yahiko marched out of the main dojo halls in search of... something...  
  
"This is... nothing I've ever seen before!" Megumi exclaimed, taking Soujirou's left forearm nearer to the light in examination. "What... what kind of a poison is this?"  
  
"I... don't know, Takani-san. If you're the doctor and you don't know, I don't suppose I would, would I?" Soujirou gently eased his smarting forearm out from Megumi's painful grip, attempting to scratch at the sides of the now rotten patch of skin.  
  
His left forearm was awful looking. An entire area of skin had dried up and rotted, in effect to the smell of dead corpse his forearm was filling their noses with. Soujirou bit his lips, unable to bear with the itch that was permeating through his arm. His right arm curled up into a half-fist, then started to be tightly clenched against his palms, whitening the hand even as the convulsion of blood vessels began. He was perspiring, dreadfully, and it wasn't even hot in all the snow cooling off.  
  
"Do you feel fine? Are you in pain in any other part of the body?"  
  
Soujirou sucked in a huge draught of air and shook his head, feeling his nerves trembling. "No, there is no other pain..."  
  
Megumi took another look at the awfully peeled skin again, then let her professionally trained ethics take over. She took out a set of something from her medicine box, swiping up two fingerfuls and then applying them over the dead and dropping skin.  
  
"Aren't... you... going to remove the skin?" Soujirou asked, painfully. Megumi shook her head defiantly.  
  
"Can't do. Unknown poison spells unknown troubles for bizarre attempts to cure..." She withdrew her hand a little as she felt Soujirou tense under her touch, then returned to spreading the lotion over his arm. "This is the safest method. I'll try to find out the cause later... keep your hand away from that wound, Soujirou!" She almost screamed, slapping Soujirou's right hand and preventing him from scratching the wound any further.  
  
Megumi went to get the bandages and Soujirou noticed that the wound was spreading little by little as he watched. It turned blue black at first at the region nearer the dead skin, then the skin started to just peel off and turn brown, colour of rot.  
  
He reached his right hand over the wound, but stopped and decided to scratch the fringe of all the dead skin instead.  
  
/I'll get you for this.../ Soujirou glared at the wound. /I WILL. I know I was wrong, but you can't destroy my arm just like that... and I know how to cure this. I will settle this with you... yet./  
  
Megumi returned with the bandages. She told Soujirou to keep his gi sleeves folded to the elbow so as to let the wound breathe through the linen. He agreed.  
  
"Takani-san?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You won't tell anyone would you?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Please?"  
  
Night fell, stars shone. The snow glistened even more under the intense glittering of millions of other galaxy lights falling upon them. Soujirou sat, in the same place he awoke that morning with a blanket over him to keep the warmth in. Sagara-san had left that morning after a few of his friends talked about 'swimming' and they needed four persons for that. Myoujin-san and Kamiya-san were sleeping, as was Himura-san. Takani-san had been reluctant to leave, only doing so after stricting warning Soujirou NEVER to scratch his wound, and telling Kamiya-san NEVER to let Soujirou out of the dojo without her permission.  
  
Of course, when Soujirou tried to excuse himself, Takani-san's orders were put into place very well indeed.  
  
/They don't know the trouble they're going to get into.../ Soujirou sighed inwardly. No, not another one. Himura-san had enough enemies to worry about without getting a headache over Soujirou's enemies...  
  
His eyes drifted from the enchanting snow to the well, now covered and probably with only half a well of usable liquid left. He could visionize the scene today, as he and Himura-san hid behind the white sheets, discussing the enemy's presence together. It gave him a warm feeling, a feeling he had not felt for since he was born...  
  
... yes, it was love. Family love... it felt soooo good...  
  
Shifting view from the line of where the clothes last hung, he sighed again, impeccably. Soujirou dipped his head down again.  
  
/They don't know... they're going to get into big big trouble.../  
  
/Only because you didn't tell them./ Another side of Soujirou barked at him. /If they get hurt, YOU are the only reason why./  
  
/But I didn't tell them to not involve them so they wouldn't get hurt! If I told them.../  
  
/IF you told them, they will be better prepared when your enemy finally makes his appearance./  
  
/But... But.../  
  
This was useless. No one ever quarrelled with himself, unless they had a split personality or something, but it was true too that everyone had their own internal conflicts to deal with. The reason behind all that hassle before the to-do-or-not-to-do decision is finally set... deserves a substential amount of ponderment, if not wonderment.  
  
The young boy got up and let his blanket collapse into a gentle pile by the floorboards around his feet, then silent made his way towards the snow and the exit of the dojo.  
  
Kenshin turned around on his futon, brows creased in a little war of thoughts. Now what was it he wanted to tell Soujirou about? Just what just what was it that was so important Kenshin had practically forgotten about it all? Something to do with a piece of paper, he believed.  
  
He lit the lamp by the side and sat up, rubbing his temples. Tonight would be a sleepless night, as were so many other nights, while Kenshin worried about the safety of his latest family and planned the schedule of tomorrow. Unlike what others thought, Kenshin was very much not the image of a carefree rurouni, a lofty wanderer or any other regal titles given to him as a result of his messy way of organization...  
  
Not that he was messy of course. He was probably the neatest rurouni ever wandered into Tokyo, now the title being challenged by Soujirou, but his way of planning stuff was just... a wreck. He never seemed to plan what he was going to do next, taking one step as the other step goes...  
  
... or so he wanted us all to think mayhaps?  
  
It was a cold night. Yup. Kenshin reached into his sleeves to embrace the warmth built up in those threads.  
  
Hmmm... what was this? A piece of paper?  
  
His hand stopped on the dojo door slides. If he left now, he left now, and he would never turn back and never get involved in Himura-san's family again. Wouldn't that be for the best? They wouldn't get hurt because of him, and just like Himura-san, he knew that they were the worthiest to be protected. Housing Soujirou on the corridors had been a bad idea, no doubt, or maybe they simply trusted him too much not to sneak off in the middle of the night? Just like what he was desiring to do now?  
  
The hand trembled slightly, but showed no sign of being put down. Finally, after a little struggle within himself, he brought his hands to his sides and turned around to look at the dojo.  
  
At the well, at the lines where the clothes would hang. At the blanket abruptly laid upon a heap to indicate sudden departure, at the entire structure in itself, seemingly beckoning to his emotions, nurturing his yearn to stay, to belong...  
  
He could feel his enemy laughing at him. At his stubborness, at his muddled ways of making decisions, where he would ponder out the possibilities so well there were no more space for anymore to be crammed in. Except that, of course, his enemy couldn't have possibly be here. He felt no one's presence, he felt no one...  
  
... yet he wasn't empty. Not thoroughly, anyway, though he was still hollow around the heart. Most of his heart had been filled with, yes, that 'warmth' as earlier mentioned, and he was willing to accept it. He liked that feeling. He really did... and he was grateful to all who had helped play a part in the filling of that void.  
  
Kamiya-san... her food may taste horrible, but they were sprinkled with an extra season of love and effort, of her love for the people she was preparing the food for, and the effort she put so much into in hope that they would all enjoy it in their prosperity. Surely it hurt being told her food stank, but beyond that, Kamiya-san, and all the others, knew and appreciated her 'cooking', and more importantly, /her/.  
  
Takani-san. She may seem like a fox reincarnate, her personalities belied her nature to be totally cunning and wily like, an exact semblance of a fox at prey. But what she developed through many years of surviving on her own, of all the things unknown to many, was the practical theories in her head, practical theories to get through life with. She still kept a happy outlook despite her obvious loss of family early in life, and her willingness to employ all her abilities to cure the ones she loved, be it physically or mentally, showed just how much she cherished those around her.  
  
Sagara-san. Of course, his outrageous attitude and behavior, his brash nature and impulsive personality were merely the flaws to his character. If one may so speak of his virtues, it may not be something that was spoken just so. His virtues could not be just stated out, one by one. His virtues spoke in himself, he would naturally never admit to the fact that he was indeed caring and generous for example, but his smiles, that strong will of loyalty and desire to live despite his way of life, was an evidence by itself what a strong character he was.  
  
Myoujin-san. A small boy, a small boy indeed, but big at heart, big in his ambitions and big at almost everything else. His theories required big fulfillments, he had big goals, but those were not big beyond reaching. He was a young boy with a fiery spirit constantly kindled by those around him. He would, like Sagara-san never admit to this fact, but Soujirou, as the observer was clear in this aspect. The ties Myoujin-san felt towards the rest were either as strong, or stronger than everyone else. Despite being the so-called 'small kid' and 'weaker of the lot', his desire to protect those around him, just like Kenshin, was undeniably strong. He had a will of steel and it would be just as hard to break his confidence, his absolute confidence in the abilities of Himura-san...  
  
Himura-san. The Rurouni of Tokyo, of Japan, /the/ original. Himura- san had two hands full of the blood of those lives he had claimed without properly holding their names in grasp. He was called for, and he spilt their blood. Their vengeance was not personal, nor were they indebted to anything but the obligation of duty. Their goals and ideals were the same, to push over the chaotic and corrupt era of Tokugawa and build a new one by themselves, some wanting swords to rule, others wanting just peace acquired by war... their only difference, was their difference in opinion, in viewpoint and on the beliefs they stood by.  
  
Yet a life was a life. Himura-san knew that, so he was willing to redeem himself. He journeyed, losing more of his youth to a pledge to save and refresh Japan after losing all of his puberty age to a cause for killing.  
  
So he stayed with a new family now. Had he... fully redeemed himself so that he felt it would be all right to grant people passive happiness?  
  
Together, they were pillars to a beautiful family. Soujirou pictured the lot of them gathered in a morning breakfast quarrel, just like that morning. Where, indeed, did Soujirou fit in all these? He would bring them nothing, they needed nothing from him, but in time, would that all change?  
  
He looked into the main dojo halls through the main entrance, the door still opened. For a moment, he could see himself, seated with the Kenshingumi, having the breakfast, reliving that ecstatic feeling once again.  
  
/Here, Soujirou./ Kamiya-san had said while she gave him more vegetables.  
  
/Better take them before the little doodle here finishes everything!/ Sagara-san had joined in the conversation.  
  
/Who me?/ Myoujin-san had demanded.  
  
/You're lucky Kaoru isn't cooking today.../ Takani-san had joked in that sly way of hers, making Soujirou, then and now, chuckle with appreciation.  
  
And Himura-san had laughed. They'd all given him that /look/. A look of love, of acceptance.  
  
They made him feel so happy. Could he leave them now? Would they be angry with him if he did? Soujirou started. He would never EVER want to make Himura-san's family angry or have any negative thoughts, after knowing them to be so good and well.  
  
But what could he bring them? Soujirou had nothing, he could do nothing without a sword, without a real ideal to work towards to.  
  
Then again, would Soujirou's enemy give up bothering Himura-san's family if he left? Soujirou winced, suddenly feeling a pang of pain shoot through his entire left arm, resulting in an immediate itch in his wound. Biting his lips, Soujirou gently rubbed the surface of the dead skin, hoping the heat would kill the germs involved in making his arm itch like crazy. This was the dagger he took for Kamiya-san. If he hadn't stopped it in time, Kamiya-san would be...  
  
... no. Soujirou's enemy would not let off Himura-san's family even if Soujirou left them.  
  
He retreated a step back away from the exit of the dojo as a whole. It would do no good for him to leave them, so before he did, he would tell them what all this was about. It would prepare them, and he would leave with a good conscience afterwards. After all that had happened, Himura-san had already detected something, it wasn't fair to keep all these who treated him as their own in the dark of this matter, this issue.  
  
Himura-san would understand. Himura-san was a rurouni, he had roamed the land and had seen all sorts of situations. He would be wiser in this aspect. Himura-san would know...  
  
/Hmmm.../ Kenshin gently stroked his lower chin, unfolding the paper then folding it into his sleeves again. /The same words Soujirou had on that paper he was holding this morning. I wonder if he knows anything about this.../  
  
Kenshin laid the cushion out on the floor and knelt down on it. Since he couldn't sleep, he might as well stay up and keep a look out for that mysterious new enemy. As usual, he had this irascible bugging behind his mind that Soujirou knew who this new enemy was. He, for once, had no idea as to who and why they were being attacked. But if Soujirou was the one...  
  
... Kenshin tightened the grip on the sheath of his sakabatou, eyes narrowing into slits again.  
  
If Soujirou was the target, Kenshin would protect him to the end, a compensation for what he did not do when Soujirou's adopted family had placed him on the brink of death... it was what he had promised Soujirou, what made Soujirou snap back into reality. Kenshin would protect him, just as he would protect Kaoru-dono, Yahiko... all of them...  
  
FOOTSTEPS!  
  
But they were calm and... non-antagonistic. They stopped dead outside his room doors, and paused for a while, as if locked in an internal conflict whether to continue or not. Kenshin was still knelt on the cushion, and he awaited in peace.  
  
If Soujirou wanted to enter, he would enter. The light in Kenshin's chamber would show that he was still up. Soujirou was in need of something, Soujirou was confused... Kenshin felt like this before, but he managed to go through it. If Soujirou needed answers, he was sure he could direct him to them...  
  
A few more seconds passed before Kenshin's room door slid open, and a very distraught looking Soujirou stepped in, eyes welling with emotions. "Himura-san." He began.  
  
Kenshin looked up from his knelt position, gently welcoming Soujirou with a smile. Soujirou collapsed into a kneel in front of Kenshin, sighing greatly as he did. He did not say another word after that, only sulking in his own position, then finally slamming both his hands onto the floor in utter frustration.  
  
"You win, Himura-san..." The voice bagged a wholesome full of small amusement. "You and your family... you win..."  
  
Kenshin merely laughed. Soujirou, such a sweet child, if only Kenshin had a son like him... He simmered down. A son, oh yes, a son, if only... Tomoe... his heart wrenched in pain. Kenshin loved Tomoe so much... why she had chose to die in his place forever puzzled him, but he really loved her very much, and to have her die was what made him come to terms with what his Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu could and could not do. Tomoe...  
  
Kenshin wasn't so sure. Soujirou did not deserve all these pain at all... if only Kenshin had been there to protect him instead of Shishio, indeed. The young ones, they should have been the ones with the hope, and not tainted with the scars of a long gone era, the scars of something they did not participate consciously in...  
  
"Soujirou." Kenshin's firm voice broke the silence. "Tell me, about him."  
  
"Who, Himura-san?" Soujirou's voice was trembling from trying to hide the pain. Being experienced in hiding these kind of things, Soujirou's tremble in his voice sounded merely an aftermath of a snow walk outside in the courtyards.  
  
"Him."  
  
Soujirou sniffed a little. From what, Kenshin was not sure. Now, it was Kenshin's turn to sigh. When someone was stubborn, it took more than a nutcracker to crack their shell. But it was possible. With Soujirou, he had all the more reason to back up this claim.  
  
"Soujirou." Kenshin tried again. "I've said it once, and if I might say it again... Soujirou. I wasn't there to protect you when you needed someone like that most, and knowing you now, I cannot deny it, I have no reason to say a denial... but right now, if history is to repeat itself, it is not too late for me, therefore, to start protecting you all over again?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Soujirou?"  
  
The young rurouni shifted his position slightly, before finally looking up.  
  
"His name is Murasaki."  
  
  
END PART 4  
15/6/98  
  



	6. Chapter Five

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
Minna - I don't write yaoi fics, so this is strictly a NON-YAOI fic. Yaoi lovers beware your disappoint, non-yaoi lovers, this is for you. :) Those who proceed with my warnings, don't say I didn't. :)  
  
Sorry guys, I was in a super hurry trying to finish writing this chapter, so if everything seems rushed... IT IS! XD I HAD TO RUSH! SO this chapter is HORRIBLE!! And embarassing... I'm so sorry, hope you all don't mind.  
  
Lady rain, I hear you at my window  
Lady rain, I need you softly falling on my face  
Why did the sunshine come and take you away?  
With you again my Lady rain...  
Lady Rain by ???  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part Five: My tears and rain are one...  
  
  
"Murasaki?"  
  
"Someone... I met during my initial stages of journeying."  
  
Kenshin observed Soujirou carefully, under the soft light of the lamp gently nudging their prescence. His head was bowed, but Soujirou was hurt in emotion, this he could sense and empathize with. Soujirou's hands on the floorboards started to tremble, balled up in fists. Kenshin decided to let silence do the judgment, as Soujirou finally began to open up about the mysterious new enemy, his persistence... and his hatred for Soujirou...  
  
Soujirou stepped into the town, a little bleary eyed from last night's sleep under the local town bridge. Boy was he sleepy... he hadn't felt like that in seriously... one week was that? So today had to be a special day...  
  
... It was special all right. Soujirou was out of money again.  
  
/Well, I guess it's wild fruits and berries today, as usual.../ The boy sighed, stumbling over a little at a rock piece in front of him. Bright sun, nice wind, happy people... such a lovely, ordinary day...  
  
Ordinary?  
  
A scream was heard. Soujirou had no time to do anything else but turn around and get knocked on the forehead by a food basket.  
  
"Araaaaaaaaaaa???"  
  
"HELP MEEEEEE!"  
  
A young girl came dashing out from the dust created from a mob of running people, grabbing onto Soujirou's gi before he could figure out what was going on. She clung on and refused to let go while the confused rurouni tried to grasp hold of the situation.  
  
He didn't have to wait for long.  
  
Two men came running down in chase of the girl, shouting and yelling and hurling all the abuses they could think of in the world, holding knives in their hands as well. The girl dug herself deeper into Soujirou's back, while the young boy held out both hands to try pacifying the incoming men.  
  
"Sirs! Sirs! I'm sure matters can be settled in a more dignified matter..."  
  
Minna, we pause for a moment to recollect this scene in RK manga 1, Bonus Story. Do we all recall, minna? YES WE DO! x  
  
"They're bandits! Perverts! Disgusting excuses for men in the society! They won't talk 'dignified' with you!" Came the lady from behind Soujirou.  
  
"Oh really?" Soujirou scratched his head in sheepishness. "Oh well, I don't want to hurt anyone today, so..."  
  
Tenken Seta Soujirou takes off in top speed in the other direction with the lady in his hands! And, as the two ruffian's jaws detached themselves from the upper mouth to the floor, Soujirou had completely disappeared in a puff of smoke, with nothing but a whiff of wind left behind to indicate his previous presence...  
  
One of the men snarled. "Why does it always happen everytime we try to get that girl?"  
  
The other one scoffed. "You'd think all the rurounis in Japan had something against us."  
  
Seeing that their staying would be futile, the two men with knives disappeared down the other direction, still a little numb from what had happened just in front of them.  
  
Soujirou stopped, then looked back over his shoulder to check. He had gone quite a distance so he doubted whether those undignified gentlemen would be able to catch up. Satisfied that they wouldn't, he turned his attention to the girl.  
  
"Hello! I'm..."  
  
SLAP!  
  
"How long do you think you're going to hold me? Let me go!" The girl, fuming mad retracted her hand and retorted angrily. Soujirou recovered from the initial stinging shock of a slap straight to the cheek and briefly mumbled something which sounded distinctly like an apology had his cheek hadn't been so flattened, and put the girl in his arms down onto the ground.  
  
"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." Soujirou plainly stated with his trademark smile while the girl dusted the dust off her kimono with a face. "I was only passing by and you asked for help, so I thought I might just..."  
  
"Yes yes, I know." The girl sighed, having being satisfied with her outlook now. She turned to Soujirou and squinted her eyes, suddenly, then began a close-up check from top to toe, making Soujirou grow increasingly uncomfortable.  
  
He cleared his throat. "If there is nothing else now..." He made an action, as if to move away. "... I think..."  
  
"Wait." The girl caught his hand, then looked at him straight in the eye. She broke into a sweet smile after a few moments' eye contact. "My name is Raikouji Chitsuru (please refer to RK manga 1 Bonus story). If I'm not mistaken, you must be a rurouni too."  
  
/Too?/ Wondered Soujirou, but nonetheless made the acquaintance. "I'm... a rurouni, yes... my name... if you're really so interested, is Seta Soujirou." He beamed.  
  
She beamed too, then began to sock him. "Well thanks for saving my life again, you rurounis. It must be a job or something. Anyway, knowing you guys, I suppose you'd like to come over to my house for dinner or something..."  
  
Soujirou started to hold his two hands up, at the same time wondering what she meant by 'you rurounis' and 'saving my life again'. "No, I... I don't suppose..." He tried unsuccessfully to call out to Chitsuru, ten metres away from where he anchored. She turned back, however, and snapped at him.  
  
"Don't just stand there! MOVE IT! You're coming to my house and that's final!"  
  
Sighing, Soujirou slowly followed the lead of the young girl, twirling her purse all around on her finger and whistling happily, and making her way cheerfully to the place she called...  
  
... home. Soujirou had no idea a young girl like her would be living in a mansionette like this. His absolutely awed expressions was quickly noticed by Chitsuru, who laughed and joked about the other rurouni who made the same face, then ushered Soujirou in.  
  
The gardens were wide, vast and well kept. Neatly trimmed bonzais stood all over and little sakura petals were floating all over the pathway, brightening up the already very beautiful looking place. Unfortunately, in the gardens, no matter how bright and cheerful it looked, there was an absolute feel of hollowness, of emptiness, of void and of... nothingness. The many sounds ringing in Soujirou's ears did not do anything to ease this first impression impressed upon his brains, as he turned from left to right to examine the terrain and rank the landscape.  
  
He was, naturally surprised that they stopped in front of an unmarked tombstone, very well masked and blended into the surroundings, to pay their respects. Soujirou bowed as Chitsuru knelt, very much wondering what was going on.  
  
When Chitsuru stood up, he got the picture.  
  
"My grandfather." A sad smile. "Quite a wealthy merchant, and very protective of me..." She gently took a strand of hair and twirled it around in her fingers, recollecting the beautiful memories, perhaps.   
  
Soujirou smiled along with her just as tears began to well up in her eyes. One could see that she loved her grandfather very much, if even seeing his grave could summon such emotions. At a loss of what to do, Soujirou stayed his ground and tried to keep his face from showing anything other than absolute empathy. He hadn't needed to try hard, though.  
  
Just like this girl, he lost his family a long long time ago in the past, while no one was willing to therefore look after him as their own, there were some people who was, so to say, 'kind' enough to let him into /their/ houses and have a share of the work there. To these people he felt grateful, and they may not have realized it through their thick skulls, but Soujirou wanted nothing from them. Nothing except the bare necessities...  
  
He hadn't realized that Chitsuru was coming close to grabbing him and crying it out in his gi, but when he did, she was already there, sobbing gently.  
  
He hesitated, then relaxed, and examined the surroundings. The house was definitely empty, with a few birds singing it's empty tune to it. The air felt hoarse with action, and the surroundings... just brimming with emotions. For someone so young to lose all kith and kin and inherit such a huge, but emotionally void house...  
  
It was really no wonder that she should fall into the arms of someone at the mere mention of a memory. She was too frail... too protected, but somewhere too, she must have been strong to have actually stayed on for so long. Soujirou smiled again, sadly.  
  
If she needed to cry, well...  
  
"Chitsuru?"  
  
There was a rustle in the nearby bush, and a boy stepped out from his previous hiding place. He and Chitsuru looked like they were on the same age, or at least somewhere there. Soujirou smiled at the boy, who smiled back almost hesitantly, then shifted glances to Chitsuru, still in Soujirou's arms.  
  
Slowly, the girl lifted her head to stare at the newcomer. Very quickly, using the sleeves of her coat her tears were wiped dry and she went forward to welcome the new one with a hug.  
  
/Wow, this girl is generous with hugs.../ Soujirou mused.  
  
"Welcome back." Chitsuru started. "Where have you been all this time? This house felt so... empty, when you weren't around." She almost croaked, due to the added effects of tears being stuck down her throat.   
  
"I was gathering herbs, Chitsuru." The boy cheerily replied, reassuring the girl that he had gone nowhere dangerous. "You know, I needed to find an antidote for that new stuff I've cooked up." His eyes gleamed slightly, then went back to the monotonous tone it had when he first appeared. Then, tone turning slightly more serious, he addressed the girl, now all smiles. "What were you crying about? Who made you sad again?" He asked, darting a slight glance over in Soujirou's direction. "Him?"  
  
"Him?" Chitsuru repeated, looking in where the boy was looking. She broke into a big, beautiful smile. "Oh him! No, not him, if anything, YOU were the one to have made me dead worried all this while enough to start crying in the arms of a total stranger." She laughed bitterly. "But he's not just a total stranger, Murasaki. Remember those rurounis I told you about?"  
  
Murasaki scratched his head for a while, then the light bulb lit up. "Oh! You mean those warriors who wandered the lands without an owner to give alliance to and end up helping those in need?"  
  
Chitsuru was embarassed when she saw the absolutely devastated expression on Soujirou. Indefinitely, her teachings of what a 'rurouni' meant was pretty much contrary in many aspects...  
  
Soujirou eyed Murasaki, Murasaki eyed Soujirou...  
  
... and they broke into loud laughter.  
  
"Good day, my name is Seta Soujirou."  
  
"I'm Raikouji Murasaki. Raikouji-ojisan adopted me a few weeks before he... died." His expressions turned sour, then regained that same line of tone it had when he smiled. "He had always been good to me, I feel so bad that he had to die before I proved my gratitude..."  
  
"There, there, Murasaki..." Chitsuru chided slightly. "... do you want to trouble someone else with our family affairs?"  
  
Soujirou panicked. Actually, if Murasaki didn't mind, he himself wouldn't have minded learning about another person's family affairs. Call him a busybody or whatever, but it always felt so good that someone else trusted him enough to reveal their house secrets. He didn't want anyone to think he was some really careless rurouni who had no snort as to how one led their family lives... he really had feelings for all...  
  
"But Soujirou wouldn't mind, eh Chitsuru?" The boy pulled Chitsuru by the ear, letting her gain a red face. "Would you, Soujirou?" Murasaki turned to face the also red-in-the-face rurouni, giving an innocent smile.  
  
A pause.  
  
"Of course, I don't mind." Soujirou beamed. Chitsuru followed him in beaming, followed by Murasaki.  
  
For someone who didn't have a family affair to begin with, of course Soujirou would be glad to share with someone's else's.  
  
With a hand signal, he felt himself being invited into a house. With smiles and acceptance. Soujirou smiled too, as he always did, and accepted the invitation.  
  
Perhaps, this journey would not be so bad after all.  
  
The days passed joyously. Soujirou had intended to leave, but he was just too attached to many things to. That was forgivable for a newbie Rurouni, so to say. It was quite hard adapting to the fact that he had to make no friends, no acquaintances, no family...  
  
... and for someone like Soujirou, someone with that internal yearn to belong, it was a tempting prospect that someone could understand and let him in onto their houses...  
  
Soujirou had collapsed into a messy heap in Kenshin's room, having felt tired to kneel and talk at the same time. He paused just as Kenshin lifted his head to place it gently on his knelt thighs. Looking up with questioning eyes, he only found the ones of Kenshin smiling into his.  
  
"It's not nice to just collapse on the floor like that, especially in cold weather..."  
  
Averting his eyes, Soujirou slightly smiled.  
  
It all happened in one day. One short day...  
  
On that day, everybody's mind was filled with their own thoughts. It seemed that Soujirou had been apparently paralyzed so much so that he had been unable to move out of his futon, where he laid for almost through the entire morning. Chitsuru had made a visit to his room and was shocked at how absolutely pale he looked.  
  
"Oh dear, Murasaki must have fed you one of his poisons again. I don't know why in the world did you agree to being his guinea pig in the first place..." Chitsuru blushed terribly, pouring a cup of tea for him. Soujirou shook his head slightly to indicate the negativity of that thought.  
  
"Please don't worry about me..." Soujirou tried to smile, grappling with his paralyzation at the same time. He could move if he wanted to, but he wanted to be a little more lazy this morning. "And as for this... well... ugh, never mind." Soujirou innocently brushed the subject off.  
  
Chitsuru pouted, handing the cup over. "If there's anything in the world that could scare this boy, I'd try it." She announced.  
  
"He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything. And oh yes, he was playing around with the kitchen knives yesterday, wanted me to teach him how to use it." Soujirou chuckled. Such a naive boy, one used a knife to chop, and there wasn't any standard way of chopping things up.   
  
Chitsuru sighed. "The next thing you know, he'll want to dig a tunnel! He never does seem to run out of curiousity in dangerous materials does he?"  
  
"Nope." Was the agreement.  
  
"Anyway," Chitsuru took the finished cup and got up. "if you need anything, just shout, I'll be at the backyard." She exited the room, sliding the door shut behind her, gently and easily. Soujirou thought for a while, then sat up, still a little paralyzed.  
  
/"Will you ever leave one day?" Murasaki stopped his digging and looked up at the young rurouni still hard at work beside him. Caught totally off guard, Soujirou stopped abruptly in the digging too and looked straight into the eyes of the younger boy.  
  
"Leave?" Soujirou said, then paused. Yes, he was true, he had indeed thought of leaving them, one of these fine days, since he never thought he was welcomed anyway. Then again, they had treated him with mighty fine ways and to be leave would be totally unjustified...  
  
... but did they want him? He felt very drawn towards them, towards they love they displayed... was he accepted in their hearts?  
  
"Yes." Murasaki proceeded, reinitiating his digging all of a sudden. "Leave."  
  
Soujirou was speechless, and quietly dug beside the younger boy. Did they want him to leave? That was expected... as a free-loader and all...  
  
"I meant, if it was possible, could you... stay?" Murasaki said, face hidden by the wave of hair. His digging went on as usual, no stopping, just at the usual pace.  
  
Soujirou was electrified with a rush of emotions all of a sudden.  
  
"I know... rurounis are wanderers of the land... and they don't have a permanent anchoring point... but..." Murasaki stopped all actions again, looking up at Soujirou, already paralyzed beyond any further movement. "BUT! Soujirou-san... won't you stay? I know you make Chitsuru very happy, and if she's happy, I'm happy, and if we're happy together, like a family..."  
  
The rest of Murasaki's discourse was tuned out totally. Soujirou's eyes glazed over, and his joy hit the roof, burst the vessels, warmed his blood, whatever. He rooted himself to the ground, paralyzed beyond belief.  
  
Finally, acceptance without obligation?  
  
Murasaki had stopped, he realized, and was looking at him weirdly. "Eh, Soujirou?"  
  
"Ah? AHAHAAAAHAHAAAH! Yes? You called?" The young rurouni scratched his head and exploded into uncoordinated laughter. Suddenly realizing how very stupid he must have looked, the young rurouni melted into a small, sincere smile, eyes bright and polished.  
  
Murasaki smiled back.  
  
Acceptance...  
  
... Soujirou...  
  
... Family...  
  
"So what was this plant you were going to plant again? I hope you didn't make me dig for all this time just so that you can grow a few... sunflowers..."  
  
"It's called aloe vera. Very useful against this kind of poison, come, let me smear some on you..."  
  
"Ugh, no, no no, Murasaki..."  
  
That night, Soujirou just froze in bed. He was paralyzed, so to speak, with joy. /He/ made Chitsuru happy? They wanted /him/ to stay? Could they have made a mistake? Could /he/ have heard wrongly...?  
  
Whatever it was, he fell asleep eventually with the sweet smile he always had.../  
  
He stretched, knowing full well it was useless to laze around any longer if he wanted any productive done. It must have been weeks since he stayed with the Raikoujis, yet today felt fresh. It felt like a first day for him, for everything... anything...  
  
He happily strode out of the room into the back yard, and after informing Chitsuru he would be leaving the house to find Murasaki, he exited.  
  
Murasaki frowned and tested the fish, poking it cautiously. Hmmm... not bad, a little too fleshy, but for three people, it should be enough... He smiled at the shopkeeper, who took it as a sign of acceptance and wrapped the fish up promptly for him. They had known each other for ages now, so it wouldn't really hurt even if the wrong language was used to convey the message.  
  
"Well, Murasaki." The shopkeeper, plump and bouncey started the moment the little boy finished paying up his fish. "Haven't seen you buying my stuff in quite some time have we?"  
  
Murasaki replied by beaming again. He was all smiles that morning, for his plant tricks had been working all very well... all thanks to Soujirou for being gracious enough to "volunteer" himself for trying out the gadgets. Of course, this was purely Murasaki's own maneuvering. Soujirou probably hadn't realized that Murasaki had been using his drinks, his food...  
  
... but that wasn't why he had asked Soujirou to stay. He really liked the guy, and he could see that Chitsuru liked him too.  
  
Except in Chitsuru's case, her 'like' was probably turning into something deeper...  
  
He chuckled, then replied, "Erm, we have a newcomer bunking in on our house lately. I think it might be permanent bunking in, so we might as well stock up now, right?" Murasaki joked, placing the wrapped up fish gently into his basket. The shopkeeper eyed him with his beady eyes for a few moments, making Murasaki flinch under his scrutiny. Finally, the plump man bent downwards from his taller position to whisper softly to Murasaki.  
  
"Never trust all those wanderers, Murasaki." He hissed. "They're always only thinking for themselves. One day, they will leave, and leave behind that feeling of betrayal..."  
  
Murasaki started. Soujirou? Give a feeling of betrayal? He looked up and gave the shopkeeper a You-must-be-kidding look, then paused. "How did you... know?" He asked warily, deciding that it was not a good sign for anyone to be in knowledge of this if he himself had not divulged the information to anyone else.  
  
The shopkeeper shrugged, then proceeded to handle the other customers who had customarily clustered around to get a hold of the freshest materials and greatest stuff. Murasaki retreated. It was getting so that he couldn't trust a single person in this entire town.  
  
Except Chitsuru, of course, and that smiley Soujirou, probably.  
  
Smiling as he had saw Soujirou always done, he began on his way home, without thinking nor observing much of the environment around him. One slight detail, however, did make him stop and look up.  
  
The familiar figure of the blue drabbed, smiley faced rurouni was seen heading towards his direction, calmly spacing out his steps, expressions hidden by the shadows of the sun.  
  
Murasaki stopped to await Soujirou's arrival. The young rurouni soon reached him, and he too, stopped at where he was. He smiled even wider when he saw the little boy, who was a little confused as to his presence in the market, when Chitsuru had been telling Murasaki not to disturb 'our sick rurouni', who apparently was quite very 'sick', this morning.  
  
"Good day." Soujirou put up a hand in greeting.  
  
"Good day." Murasaki replied, beaming at the sight of Soujirou doing the same. Soujirou then turned the direction he had previously been heading towards to and invited Murasaki to walk together with him, home, presumably.  
  
They thread together in silence for a little while, letting the noises of the surrounding markets, of people bargaining, of all the buying and selling, soak into their brains. Soujirou was also still unsure as to why the sudden departure from... home... to find Murasaki. But he realized that there was this little lump in his heart he just had to clear by saying this before it grew into a communication constipation whenever the subject was brought up. He cleared his throat.  
  
And decided to jump straight into the point. "Remember what you said yesterday?"  
  
Murasaki looked up. What he said yesterday...  
  
"Yup." Soujirou smiled again, looking straight into the path ahead, as if he could read Murasaki's thoughts. "You know, all these days with you guys, I really think... this is the sort of..."  
  
Dare he say it?  
  
"... family, anybody would want to belong to. I am one who had always been without this, I... never had any real experience until... you guys, of course."  
  
He took in a huge breath, while Murasaki looked on in anticipation. "I was thinking, just... thinking, that... perhaps if... if you guys don't mind me at all..."  
  
Closing his eyes, he drew another draught of air.  
  
"... could I... stay? For... a very long time... ?"  
  
This time it was our Murasaki's turn to be paralyzed with shock. But his recovery stamina was suprisingly much more faster than our Soujirou's. In time, he beamed, entire outlook enhance-softened by the probing, gentle rays of the sun shining onto his face. He nodded, slightly at first, then started to really, really nod. Seeing that he made Soujirou smile the eyes out of his sockets, he proceeded to do the same.  
  
The sweet, serene scene only to be disturbed, when Soujirou, or it should be the other men, accidently bumped into Soujirou, causing the lighter one to topple over, and that is of course, Soujirou. The young one was about to fall over when Murasaki's arms shot out in assistance, grabbing him before he hit the ground. Soujirou heaved quickly, and helped himself stand up straight to apologize if need be.  
  
He found himself staring at a huge, burly man, another of those egoistic hero-wannabe, and his two lapdogs tagging loyally behind him, one on each side. The man was looking at him with a look which conferred the meaning of 'apologize!', which Soujirou did, bowing deeply.  
  
"Please excuse me... I didn't mean to bump into you..." He said, smiling even when looking on the ground. Beside him, he could feel Murasaki tense up with agitation, which was totally unexpected. He lifted his head slightly to inquire of the situation when a sickening sound was produced...  
  
... the sound of a bamboo sword making contact with a person's flesh...  
  
Soujirou gapped, and this time really collapsed to the floor before Murasaki could help him. Somebody could be heard chortling away, laughing sadistically for all it was worthed and the whole world seemed to have gathered to watch the ongoings of this sudden commotion. He cringed, and tried to hold his numbed left shoulder while sitting up. With much difficulty, he stared face to face at the person who attacked.  
  
It was that big, bulky man indeed, proudly hoisting the bamboo sword with a delirious smirk in check. "Ho ho. You dare to even bump into me? Me? The leader of all that is bad in this town?" He gave a small laugh, then regained his small speech. "You had it coming to you!" He broke off, laughing hysterically. Beside him, his two lapdogs followed in every pitch and rythme of the same action.  
  
Murasaki ran up to bravely face them. "Don't push it too hard, you and I both know who was at fault." His tone was challenging. "You bumped into Soujirou, you still dare hit him?" He growled. "You're still the bad guy you were, aren't you?"  
  
"Oh looky looky." Big burly man's chin twitched. "If it isn't Raikouji again." He stopped, and pushed Murasaki aside to examine Soujirou behind him. "If this fellow is involved with the Raikoujis... hahahah! Then it well serves him right to get beaten up!"  
  
"NONSENSE!" Murasaki screamed, and tried to throw himself at Big Burly man. But however, big burly man was, as said, Big Burly Man, so the teenaged Murasaki could hardly touch him without being flung 3 metres back into the sand roads, writhing in pain.  
  
Biggy chuckled again, then stopped when Soujirou suddenly stood up from his previous knelt position. His hand was away from his injured shoulder blade now and his expressions were hidden conveniently under the wave of hair.  
  
Impressed, Biggy commented, "Never seen someone stood up so quickly after one of my blows. Just who in town are you?"  
  
"You don't need to know who I am."  
  
Soujirou's tone irked the egoistic fool.  
  
"'Coz you're about to be put out of commission."  
  
The boy looked up, a deadly glare directed in way of Biggy. He was gone in an instance, and so was the bamboo sword he previously held proud sway over. Alarmed, he turned to his back, where Soujirou had already arrived, and dropped his jaw when he saw his sword in Soujirou's hands.  
  
"This was a commotion uncalled for. You should've just been glad to accept my apology and be done with. But you attacked Murasaki. You're not going to get away for doing that."  
  
Murasaki, with increasing effort, struck his chords and clambered onto his two feet to see the ongoing situation. It was hard accepting this defeat now, but he swore, he swore those idiots would pay for this, and the earlier grave sins they had committed on the Raikouji family...  
  
He started. From the look on Soujirou's face, a duel seemed likely, and from what he knew about Soujirou, he couldn't fight to save his life... He was just a rurouni...  
  
"Now you will know what it's like to be hit with the blade of your own sword..." He continued to handle the bamboo sword into the imaginary sheath of his fingers made, crouching in displeasement.  
  
In the next instance, everything was over. All one could see was a big, blue blur (yes, that's Soujirou for you guys), then Soujirou on the spot with a finishing stance as well as three flying figures, and a broken bamboo sword shattered to bits by pure energy transferred.  
  
Soujirou stood up, oblivious to all the awe-struck onlookers who had gathered around, examined the broken bamboo sword then flung it away in the direction of the Baddies as soon as they landed. Changing his priorities, he ran up to where Murasaki was, helping the numbed boy up this time with a warm, smiling face.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
Blinking, Murasaki could only nod, very slightly, having witnessed a feat of amazing skills.  
  
"Let's go home, shall we?"  
  
Murasaki stopped being dazed and understood the situation. Yes, he need not feel bad about anything now, for suddenly there was a feeling of security. Nothing could possibly harm him now could he? He nodded happily in response to Soujirou's question, deciding that it would be all right to tell him about all those problems...  
  
Night fell. Very quickly indeed for Soujirou, who on the way home with Murasaki heard some interesting facts about the big burlies earlier in the commonplace.  
  
Apparently, they hated the Raikoujis.  
  
As for why, their reason was because they hated the way the Raikoujis got rich by doing business with the despised foreigners. They were so sure that the foreigners were up to no good, and thus this status increasing to that of the Raikouji family who was in constant contact with them.  
  
But their hatred was fabricated. This, Murasaki was sure about. They were jealous, most certainly, of the Raikouji's wealth. For their wealth were gotten through decent ways, trading with the foreigners was no crime! They wanted the riches for themselves, they always wanted everything! So they figured out the next most simplest way to get rich was to take over another man's riches.  
  
And to do that, they would want to kill Mr. Raikouji, Chitsuru and then later Murasaki's grandfather... and they did. They killed him, they did that just when Murasaki's respect for the sturdy old man was at it's peak, they finished him off just when the Raikouji family was growing to be a warm little cozy place to live in...  
  
/So he wanted revenge./ Soujirou thought, gently washing his face with his towel. /He wanted to finish these greedy people off so that they would never bother him again.../  
  
Carefully, Soujirou folded the towel and hung it upon a wooden rack. Murasaki strictly warned him that his mission would be tonight, and Soujirou should not follow, for it would be his own revenge. Even more strictly, Soujirou was forbade to tell Chitsuru about what he was going to do. This, Soujirou was not sure how long he could do for Murasaki. He knew that Murasaki had a wrong viewpoint already, for revenge was wrong in itself and would draw to nothing eventually, yet he did not have the heart to stop him from going. Why? Soujirou mentally kicked himself. Why?  
  
But the thing was, from Murasaki's account, all those big burlies could manage to get from assassinating Mr. Raikouji was the big trading boat he always used for the very purpose it's name deigned. Surely these people would not be satisfied with just that, and would likely strike again...  
  
Soujirou dumped himself heavily onto the futon, thinking and thinking, hard in thought. Murasaki should have gone by now, but Soujirou had curbed his urge at having wanting to follow him. What a mess. What a big big mess...  
  
"Soujirou?"  
  
The so-said Soujirou snapped his head up to greet the incoming new one, and smiled when he saw who it was. "Good night, Chitsuru. Is there anything up?"  
  
Her worried clad figure drew near, eyes radiating with darkness and fear. She knelt down in front of Soujirou, and pushed a piece of paper into his hands.  
  
"Murasaki left me this, do you have any idea what it means?"  
  
Murasaki? Soujirou wondered as he squinted to catch the print on the letter. Carefully, he read the words out: Hi sis,  
  
Well, I'll be going for a walk by the sea later tonight, so don't worry about me too much. I'm sure that with Soujirou by your side, you'll be in safe hands, right? Oh well, see you later then!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Murasaki yori  
  
Re-reading the letter, Soujirou heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, there's nothing wrong with this letter... seems that he just wants to go for a walk by the sea..."  
  
"Soujirou..." Chitsuru chided. "Are you nuts or something? Who goes for a walk by the sea at this hour in the night?" She bowed her head to render her expressions unreadable. "Besides, you know Murasaki. He doesn't like being alone... and it's already so late... do you think he's really okay?"  
  
Soujirou's heart ached at having to probably lie about this again. He cursed himself inwardly and wished he knew more details as to this intricate web of relationships before offering more assistance, which he really wanted to, and they desperately needed someone to.  
  
"He will be all right... maybe he's just... depressed." Soujirou smiled. "He told me about Mr. Raikouji this morning." He slowly phrased his sentences in the most tactful method he could think of.  
  
"He did?" Chitsuru was amazed. "I... he... he never wanted to talk to anybody about it!" She raised her eyebrows in amazement. Murasaki was actually opening up! How nice of him... "Grandfather... was a bitter memory to all of us." Chitsuru sniffed. "Murasaki hated those who set him up and drove him to his death... he had always been talking about revenge on them."  
  
The word 'revenge' pricked Soujirou's conscience like a thick swab of cactus spike. He smiled gently in the moonlight, remembering Shishio-san's conviction to himself, that he had wanted to avenge his own charred flesh from the Meiji government, the one who caused him to be so. In the end it all drew to a blank, those who looked for revenge came to be finally working for themselves and their own benefit in the end, for from the start they thought of no one but themselves. Shishio-san was so, and so was anyone else who wanted 'revenge'...  
  
Suddenly, Chitsuru tensed, large eyes gleaming in the darkness. She grabbed the letter back and re-read it intensely, finally crumpling the thing then violently standing up.  
  
Alarmed, Soujirou inquired of the matter. He was ignored, though he knew it wasn't deliberate, he couldn't help but feel a little hurt at this. Getting up hastily, he was hardly able to keep up with Chitsuru's flurried steps as she went from his room, to Murasaki's, to her own, then out of the house completely with a slam of the door after throwing on an extra cover.  
  
Gently, the night breeze grazed Soujirou's pretty much confused face. How often did a boy, then a girl of the same family name ran out into the middle of the night without a given reason whatsoever just to 'go for a walk by the beach'?  
  
He brought a finger to his chin then proceeded to absent-mindedly walk past Murasaki's room. The moonrays shone softly into it, giving it a most serene look through the slightly ajar sliding doors. Soujirou paused considerably, then with one hand threw open the entire door.  
  
In full view of the scene, Soujirou was not sure whether the word 'serene' could be attributed to an adjective of this room.  
  
Drawers were out and everything that had been kept was dragged out. It looked as if the room had messily been ransacked, but definitely by somebody who knew what was going on in the room itself. Drawers and drawers of where Murasaki last placed his experimental plants and 'toys' were pulled out and emptied of it's contents. Some of it still lay on the floor as Soujirou, in a wrecked state of nerves as it was, ploughed through the messy floor in wonderment.  
  
Who would want to take Murasaki's things and... why?  
  
Stopping in front of an object, he picked it up and examined it with great interest. Yes, another of Murasaki's 'toys', so to say. This one was the one which had a roller attached to a certain object. Murasaki had taught him how to play with it and yes, it did quell his bored nerves for a while. Unfortunately, from what Soujirou knew this toy was pretty much treasured by Murasaki. He had been told that it was the first gift he ever made for his grandfather, Mr. Raikouji who died before he could receive it...  
  
... in fact, he loved it so much, he told Soujirou that if he died, he wanted to bring it into the grave with him...  
  
The toy, the ransacked room... the letter... Murasaki had been looking for something in his own room. Something so long and forgotten that he had to ransack it to be able to sift it out. It was not by accident that Soujirou found this toy, for it was sitting comfortably in the middle of a pretty obvious spot and the letter...  
  
/Tonight, they will pay... I will... extract exact revenge.../  
  
/No.../  
  
The toy in his hands, Soujirou dashed out of the house too in hot pursuit of the Raikouji family...  
  
... to protect them...  
  
... Murasaki...  
  
/... Chitsuru.../  
  
/... please don't do anything silly... !/  
  
The harbour was deadly hushed when Soujirou finally did manage to arrive. In fits of breath he examined the surroundings to assess the situation. The stagnant air showed signs of a fierce storm whipping up, like the curtain red clouds gathered in clumps right above his heads now... Frantically, Soujirou started to look around for the ship of where Murasaki and Chitsuru could be right now. Murasaki was dead-bent on revenge, likely Chitsuru was dead-bent on stopping him from doing anymore wrong for the Raikouji family... Soujirou... Soujirou...  
  
Where did he stand admist all these conflicts? He was not family, he merely lodged. What business was it that he interferred with other people's family business?  
  
Suddenly feeling very inferior, Soujirou stopped running and looked down on the ground. His emotions were acting up again, it seems and he would not be able to analyze the situation as he had always been able to. When it came to pricky matters of such, he always refused to believe that anybody would be able to accept him, a humble servant of the land...  
  
He wanted to belong... but so afraid of rejection...  
  
Where, indeed, did he stand here?  
  
There was a whistling sound, then a massive explosion somewhere to Soujirou's left. This snapped him totally out of wallowing in insightful self despair, to make him jump right back into reality.  
  
Two lives (or more) were at stake. He could settle his internal conflicts after this issue!  
  
He ran... and ran... and finally decided that he wasn't running fast enough, so he pushed and transformed into a whizzing blur on the harbour grounds, tearing up the ground behind him as he emerged in front of the ship where the explosion had occurred, sliding to an emergency stop, overspeeding by five metres.  
  
The ship was like any other ordinary trading ship, except that it seemed ready to leave the harbour, it's anchor having been lifted to the bow. Bright sparks flew off parts of it's passenger's cabin room and certain screams and shouts, curses and voodoo spells were heard, while the ship cackled and swallowed up more of the wood. Soujirou got to the edge of the stone steps and couldn't get any further without getting wet, so he stopped and tried to squint.  
  
A few moments later, a small blob was seen bobbing up and down on the surface of the waters. Soujirou gapped, decided against shouting out anybody's name and quickly spotted a small rowboat by the side of the steps. Quickly unroping it, he clambered in and started rowing towards the blob.  
  
As he got closer and closer, he could recognize the unmistakable head of Murasaki despite all the wetness, and was overjoyed, warmed with relief. He rowed closer and called out Murasaki's name, receiving a welcoming smile and thumbs-up in response.  
  
He helped Murasaki into the boat, careful not to get too near the big, burning, trading ship. Half of him was overwhelming with gladness, that Murasaki didn't seem hurt in any way at all, but the other half was full of worry.  
  
Murasaki was safe, but what about Chitsuru?  
  
The boy however, seemed delirious with joy, choking every now and then as he let out bits and pieces of laughter.  
  
Unable to contain his curiousity, Soujirou asked.  
  
"Oh, they're a bunch of goons." Murasaki chuckled. "Didn't even know I was sneaking up behind them and dumping skin poison into their water supply! You should've seen their face when I threw a piece of sodium into a barrel of their water..." He chuckled some more, unable to keep the sea water from entering his mouth anymore, choking.  
  
Sodium, my friends, is a very lethal piece of thingumajig, high in the chemistry reactivity series. Unless kept secure with oil, one touch with a single drop of water (less say a lot) explodes the little thing and gives a person, if not a big shock, a small fire and a lot of soot.  
  
Soujirou smiled nervously, sweatdropping all over the place. He lifted his eyes to examine the boat, then narrowed it when he heard a woman scream. "Murasaki." He nudged the laughing boy. "Murasaki!"  
  
"Wha... What?" Murasaki glowered good-naturedly, apparently too delirious with joy at having revenged against those bad guys. "Their ship will burn down soon, and they with it." He smiled evilly. "It's their just deserts. For killing my grandfather."  
  
"Murasaki, Chitsuru went after you."  
  
Silence.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Chitsuru ran after you."  
  
A longer pause.  
  
"WHY???" Murasaki stood up suddenly, violently shaking the mini rowboat. He was looking pretty intimidating, backed by the piercing rays of an eerie moonlight and the initial stages of a whipping wind. "YOU TOLD HER?"  
  
"I didn't!" Soujirou retorted. "Your letter did!"  
  
Murasaki was fuming by now, eyes always darting quickly to the deck of the trading ship, body actions getting increasingly nervous. He knew it couldn't have been Soujirou's fault even if he did tell Chitsuru, for Chitsuru had every right to know about his action, although she would most naturally went after him to stop him. He cursed, again and again and again, slamming his fist into his palm. "What's the possibility of her being on the ship?"  
  
A woman's scream shrilly rang through the air, amid the horde of footsteps then heard and a mob of voices seemingly in pursuit.  
  
"Very high." Soujirou gravely nodded. Murasaki facefaulted, then Soujirou decided it was time to act.  
  
He rowed closer to the bigger boat, feeling the sides for anything to help him climb upwards in. There was nothing, worksmanship had been good on this boat so much so that not a single creak was big enough for Soujirou's little finger to lend support for. This time it was /his/ turn to curse, as he finally gave up and took a step back into the boat.  
  
He thought of Chitsuru... Murasaki... Soujirou was useless, he knew he was... he could never bring them happiness, couldn't even protect the person he wanted mostly to now... hot tears brimming near the edges of his eyes, he took his left hand to wipe them away.  
  
Something hard touched his face instead, and when Soujirou brought it within reasonable viewing range, the idea struck.  
  
Murasaki's toy.  
  
Without second thoughts, he flung the thing upwards to try to hook onto whatever he could. The toy came back without results. Squinting, Soujirou took to a second try, and this time hit something. Unexpectedly, but very fortunately, the string wrapped itself around the railings of the ship to allow tight control over it. Soujirou pulled it experimentally and nodded. All was going well now.  
  
He prepared to climb, when Murasaki stopped him.  
  
"I'm coming too."  
  
Soujirou hoped he could muster something near a glare, but it just couldn't happen when it was someone he didn't feel hate for. He sighed.  
  
"All right, but only after I climb up. This thing can't support two people."  
  
Soujirou began the heart-wrecking climb, the wind now howling and the clouds preparing to break into bits and pieces of great rain. Despite the worsening weather conditions, Soujirou pressed on. If Chitsuru was on the ship, he knew those baddies wouldn't let her off for anything in the world. He had a mission when he came, when he promised to stay... he wanted to protect them all, and now he had to fulfill his word...  
  
With one final burst of strength Soujirou transferred his weight from the string to the railings of the ship, at the same time breaking the string and watching the dead piece flutter away into the choppy seas. He bit back his fear and hauled himself onboard, then signalling to Murasaki to stay where he was now that the string was gone and there was no other way of climbing up. He turned around.  
  
The fire had not helped much in lighting up the seriously in need of lighting deck. In the pitch darkness of the night where nothing provided real light for sight, Soujirou could not see his own palms outstretched. But that didn't bother him. The sound were clear enough for him to know where the chase was on. In fact, the footsteps were fast approaching where he was as he stood still...  
  
Murasaki, on the other hand, could see everything clearly from where he was. The moonlight was an aid to him, but alas he, for he did not know that Soujirou could not see a thing on board. He thought Soujirou was able to see, able to see everything as clearly as he was now, and mayhaps even clearer, for Soujirou was on board!  
  
Murasaki's fists tightened as he watched the chasing mob nearing the stationary Soujirou. /I trust you, Soujirou./ He could feel himself trembling in fear and utter belief. /You'll save Chitsuru and we'll all be fine again, wouldn't we?/  
  
He saw Soujirou turn around to face the mob.  
  
Soujirou's head snapped around quickly to face the noise. From the shouts, it seemed that there was indeed an unwelcomed visitor on the boat, likely Chitsuru. Likely too, they thought Chitsuru had been the one to have poisoned them or set the ship on fire... this wasn't their fault, for any outsider on the boat would be first priority for suspicion...  
  
As his eyes adjusted gradually more and more to the darkness, Soujirou could now clearly see the silouette of a female shape running towards him. There was a desperate scream as she dove behind him and the mob swarmed up towards the two of them. Stepping back, Soujirou pressed Chitsuru further up the deck to make sure she didn't slip away from his grasp so he could always keep up with this protection and finally send her safely away from this boat.  
  
But suddenly, her hands slipped away from his and Soujirou couldn't feel her presence anymore.  
  
Murasaki heaved a huge sigh of relief. Chitsuru was now behind Soujirou. Soujirou would protect her, no problem. He looked at Soujirou, who currently still looked too confused to do anything. Chitsuru had taken two steps back to try to catch her breath.  
  
/Finish them!/ Murasaki calmly, with an evil glint in his eyes, said. /Like how you did in that guy this morning, finish them all!!/   
  
Soujirou thew his head left to right and back, not feeling Chitsuru behind him anymore. Where was she? Had she been hit? He had no time to ponder too many questions, for the swarm of mob in front of him was getting more and more agressive, demanding more and more blood as the moments went by. Soujirou stood rooted to the ground. Now what was he going to do?  
  
Suddenly, there was a whizzing in the air. The mob had decided to attack with their wild accusations of 'you burnt our ship!' and 'you deserve to die!'. Unsure of what to do, yet sure at the same time where to duck, instincts just swiftly made Soujirou side-step on the side deck to avoid getting hit by anything thrown at him. The moment he did, he heard a sound he knew he would regret forever.  
  
The dagger thrown still hit something. It hit flesh, not his, but somebody behind him. Chitsuru let out a cry of pain. Stumbling sideways, paralyzed with pain, she fell over the railings of the ship, the icy cold waters ready to rush up to hit her...  
  
Murasaki stopped his internal cheering for Soujirou. He could not believe it. The boy had just side-stepped to save himself from getting hit by the flying dagger, only to let Chitsuru get hit?  
  
The words of the shopkeeper just kept rebounding in his head... that a rurouni merely worked for his own gain so that everything would be for his own benefit...  
  
But Soujirou, you weren't like that were you? Soujirou?? Murasaki quietly comforted himself. He was numbed with emotions, watching tearily as Chitsuru fell over the railings of the ship, ready to plunge into the seas...  
  
"NOOO!" Soujirou screamed, hands automatically reaching out to where he thought Chitsuru had fell. He was right in his estimation and he could feel his own hands grasping around a cold, limp one. The sheer weight was dragging him down and over as well, as he stubbed one foot on deck to stop himself from slipping any further.  
  
Did he... did he just harm the person he wanted to protect most?  
  
He didn't want to know, but he knew, and all he wanted to ever do now was to save Chitsuru, save her from hitting the seas... Chitsuru, don't go now...  
  
Soujirou risked a look over the railings, the winds now whipping his hair all around his face, nevertheless not disturbing his view. Behind him the mob started to yell and shout abuses, some even using their brooms and pans to hit him so that he would fall from the railings. But his stoic stand was not to be easily moved. He was protecting Chitsuru to the end and that was final. He didn't want to hurt her anymore... he didn't mean to anyway...  
  
"Chitsuru!!" Soujirou cried out pitifully, subconsciously checking that he was actually crying now. "CHITSURU!!!"  
  
Chitsuru finally looked up, with a smiling face nonetheless. Her forehead had been grazed and a deep gash appeared on it, blood pouring out as if there would be no other chance to get out of the body systems like this. Her mouth opened and closed, mouthing the words 'Soujirou', but no noise coming out from within it.  
  
Soujirou could feel his grip slackening, for upstairs, he was still receiving beatings to his back by the mob. They were indefinitely trying to haul him overboard as well, but he was just as stubborn as they were. He resisted, and gritted his teeth. He was in excruciating pain, but nothing hurt him more than the fact that he got Chitsuru hurt...  
  
... not to mention how Murasaki must think of him now...  
  
Chitsuru's hands slipped more and more, when the drizzle set in. Rain. What a bad time to come... but even without the rain, Soujirou could see that Chitsuru would never make it. Her blood loss was too high, her body... too fragile...  
  
/Don't go, Chitsuru!/ Soujirou wept, inwardly torn and outwardly very injured. Chitsuru looked up at him, smiling again. Her pale face told of only one fate in such, which Soujirou already knew and had seen fairly well in so many all his years...  
  
She was dying. The gash was just too deep.  
  
Even as she was dying, she could fairly see that Soujirou, someone she also loved as dearly as Murasaki, was being hurt, beaten and bashed because he wanted to protect her... she couldn't help but smile and smile, for she knew it was a privilege to have someone love you enough to suffer a sacrifice like this.  
  
Soujirou was crying... for her... but she was dying... You shouldn't cry now, Soujirou... you deserve to live a long long life and have a happy future now... your past had been tained enough with badness as it was, so please be happy now... I am dying, I will need no more protection... protect yourself Soujirou... be happy always... I'll join my grandfather now... you stay with Murasaki... stay with him... so long now...  
  
With whatever strength she had left, she forced her hands away from Soujirou's slipping grip, and plunged into the surface of the waters now...  
  
... I love you both always...  
  
"CHITSURU!!!!"  
  
The moments passed slowly, ticked painfully, oozing with the taste of despair and helplessness, as Soujirou's empty hand was still outstretched in hope that all this was a dream, that Chitsuru was still in his hands, still in his grasp... still in his protection...  
  
A soft splash and a break in the surface waters off the deck of the ship came resounding in the ears of all.  
  
Murasaki broke down.  
  
Soujirou too.  
  
And the heavens opened their floodgates to allow the sympathy of the rain in accordance...  
  
They beat down in rhythme... at the crumpled figure of Soujirou, terribly slumped on the railings of the ship in shock.  
  
/I let her go?/  
  
Murasaki's mourning outcry was ignored in that part of him which died.  
  
Suddenly, he felt like crying, but suddenly, he could not. Seeing the peaceful method in which Chitsuru had fallen from his grasp... he... he...  
  
/I... I.../  
  
His lips trembled. More and more and his fingertips turned ice, ice cold... he blinked, the first one rolling off his cheeks, hot and fresh in contrast to the cold and unsympathatic ones already falling on his cheeks in rain.  
  
/I AM SO USELESS!!!/  
  
Soujirou screamed. A scream so scary, so horrible, so bloodcurling, and so in the state of a helpless man...  
  
/WHO AM I CRYING FOR? NO ONE! MYSELF! MYSELF!! Useless man! YOU USELESS MAN!! UUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!/  
  
And for the second time in his entire life, Soujirou could not differenciate his tears from the salty rain...  
  
  
  
12/7/98  
  



	7. Chapter Six

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
This fic is not yaoi. It is spoilerfull. The first chapter already spoils you into RK manga 16, next, I am going to spoil you into RK manga 18...  
  
I'm having difficulties piecing what I wrote together... XD  
  
Viva forever, everlasting  
I'll be waiting: like the sun  
Live forever, for the moment  
Ever searching: for the one...  
Viva Forever by The Spice Girls  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part Six: Searching for that one forgiveness  
  
  
There was silence in the room. But there was no gloom. It was a mere respect of feelings Kenshin provided as Soujirou proceeded to close his story with the tears that well deserved to roll. He gacked, and moved his right hand to shield his wet eyes from sight. Then, inside, he cried. He cried... like the night it happened to this night he was recalling the events... he could do nothing but weep in despair of his uselessness...  
  
/Will he forgive me? Himura-san? Will he ever... forgive me?/  
  
It was a question he might as well have asked, yet unspoken it drew the same impression upon Kenshin. All this while, his large, violet eyes glinted of experience. While Soujirou took his time to regain his composure, Kenshin alone, was deep in ponderment.  
  
He knew... he knew the pain Soujirou had to go through. He knew this was no ordinary heartbreak, to watch the one you loved so much slip away in front of your own eyes...  
  
... to lose the one you loved... forever... because of a mistake...  
  
How Kenshin himself dealt with all those pains he himself experienced he never wanted to know. He knew that surviving it was as painful as experiencing it himself... it tore at his heart when he first asked himself the big, "why"?  
  
It pained him so much when he first shouted her name... into futility, when he knew he could never reach her again, could only caress her softly in his arms until it hit him. It tore at his heart, sliced at his veins, wrecked up his stomach... when he called, again and again, for her to return... that it was all a nightmare...  
  
... that she would say she loved him too...  
  
Kenshin's own lower lip trembled, which he knew he would never be able to stop now. For his large unblinking eyes that had remained thus till now, the tears were starting to clam up his sense of sight, blurring it beyond anything which could be seen within five metres...  
  
One rolled off, beyond his control anymore, and dropped with a soft splat onto the wooden, polished boards of the room.  
  
Lifting his hands, blurred with the gaze of the extra coat of tears on his eyes, Kenshin examined himself.  
  
He was crying.  
  
What were these tears for?  
  
Who?  
  
There was no denying that he was crying for the first woman he had loved so dearly, the one he had wanted to protect to his own downfall... but for so long, for so, so long, his tears could never be called upon no matter how much he willed himself to.  
  
He was crying for Soujirou.  
  
Soujirou belonged rightfully to the future, the new life, the new era he had fought hard to try build up. Yet the boy had chosen to live in the ways of the old... in spite of all Kenshin was unsure of in the past, he knew he had a slight clue now.  
  
Soujirou did not want to live in a world where his own ideas had already been prepared for him. Those born into the new era would, but Soujirou wouldn't want that... he wanted his own life... to taste the fruits of happiness and bitterness by himself so that he knew what to do and where he stood...  
  
Except this time, bitterness for Soujirou was painfully unnecessary.  
  
Kenshin was crying for Soujirou and himself.  
  
And through the tears which flooded the memory of the events so many moons ago, Kenshin smiled... almost forcibly through his trembling lips. He brought his hands back to the floor and lifted one to place on Soujirou's still weeping head.  
  
"My child, I have a story to tell you..."  
  
"... something that happened so long ago..."  
  
Something... that has left their eternal scars on me... And, in all SASS tradition; S P O I L E R (for manga 18 and up...) S P A C E (Just had to ruin the atmosphere hadn't I? x Live with it: The writer of this fic is insane, long-winded, and doesn't have an inkling of an idea why she has written quite such a boring fic...) (ANYWAY)  
  
She was beautiful.  
  
She was the most beautiful lady I had ever had a chance to meet up with until that point of my existence. But then again, how many ladies had I had a chance to meet?  
  
She first appeared on that night, that one bloody night when my mind and my entire pillar of strength was dissolving into confusion. I was deranged and near the brink of insanity where there would be no return, when she appeared in my life with the smell of fresh, white plums...  
  
I whirled around, determined to seal the mouth of whoever had saw this Hitokiri Battousai do a deed. But when I saw her... when I saw her...  
  
... I just couldn't.  
  
If anything hadn't horrified me enough until then, I could say that I was horrified, myself, to find a lady, so pure and so innocent, all drenched in the blood of which I myself had spilled... it was a horrible sight to behold, something I knew I never wanted to see again...  
  
... something, which compelled me to catch the girl when she fell.  
  
And from then on, it was a confusing relationship between the both of us.  
  
Her very mystic beauty, the ice-cold character and the stubborness I knew even I could not hope to triumph over, captivated me. No matter how I refused to show how I felt in the midst of all the civil uprisings, I know, very clearly, how I felt towards her.  
  
I knew she was special.  
  
But how special, I was not to find out myself. I knew still, that during my Hitokiri Battousai days where a line as thin as this strand of hair was separating my consciousness from my sub, my insanity from what was sane. Somehow, someway or another, she tipped the line, I knew I wanted my sanity... I knew I wanted to live...  
  
In those days where war was a everyday thing, where every morning we would have to pick the pieces and start all over again, this was not a common thought... at all.  
  
Life went on as usual, my sword went drinking as usual, until that one fateful day when our headquarters were attacked and razed to the ground, during the height of the civil war. My home was gone, everything too... the Ishinshishis had lost all they could depend their ideals on.  
  
So, I thought, had I.  
  
I was a shadow assassin, not known to the world and never can be. I knew nothing, I could do nothing now that the head was gone. What was I, a mere hand to do without it?  
  
Maybe, I thought, the new era I tried so hard for would never come to place...  
  
I was told to lie low for a while. I knew I had to, for I could do nothing else, having done nothing else all those time too, other than let the gleam of my sword strike fear into all in the Ishinshishi's ways... and by that time, when my boss told me that 'a young, married couple' was more convincing than 'a single, young man', I knew that this marriage was, at least to me, more than just a convenience.  
  
I was certain, she was special, to me.  
  
That air of mysteriousness, of the touch-me-nots continued all the way through our marriage into the winter of that year, when we lived in a quiet, peaceful countryside farming area on the outskirts of Kyoto. But somehow, in one way or another, I learnt the meaning of true happiness, living so peacefully, so joyously with her...  
  
... my wife... finally someone I knew I could hold close.  
  
But would she allow me close? She was, just as her surname Yukishiro rendered, pure icy. I knew I was happy with her, but I did also wondered if she was happy with me... I could gather things about her that she loved children, that she was a neat and organized wife, so very good in everything except... smiles...  
  
And one day someone from her life came into ours.  
  
The day her brother came and left, everything changed. She... talked to me. Something I never thought would happen, but she did. Everything about her past, she just gleaned through all she could without breaking down and told me enough to let me know that...  
  
... I wanted to protect her now... forever...  
  
The night she cried into my arms, the night I told her everything about myself and vice versa, I knew... that she would leave an impression so deep in my heart, I would find it hard to let go now. Her smile, was so warm, so full of fascination. She captivated me... I had to protect her: I wanted to.  
  
But I wondered if my feelings towards her was obligation or... something else...  
  
And the very next morning, she went. She left me in an empty house wondering what I had done wrong, why would she want to leave... until the letter came. They kidnapped her. I didn't care who, and I didn't care how, all I did care was, I wanted her back.  
  
I had lived with her for so long, I had just promised to protect her happiness... how could everything just break down like that? So without properly considering what I should do, I dressed, took my daisho and went after the Yaminbou.  
  
They would pay for using her against me.  
  
And they did pay.  
  
Almost all of them became part of the kekkai they took pride in. One by one they broke down my abilities until I was left with nothing but the sense of smell. What help would that be? What help indeed?  
  
What help was the sense of smell until the final move which I thought I would die wielding, gave me the smell of beautiful, white plums?  
  
Would if have been better not to know?  
  
Not to know that you consciously, knowingly slashed at the one you promised never to kill... ?  
  
Why?  
  
What was in for her?  
  
What did she get for dying for me?  
  
I couldn't stop crying... when she reached up to touch my left cheek, to touch the freshly embedded cross scar which she had just contributed a mark on... I knew I would cry forever...  
  
... inside...  
  
I was losing her. And when I did, I knew that I had failed. I had utterly failed as a husband, as a human, as a man.  
  
I... I...  
  
"... I love her. I still do... I still wonder how we would have turned out indeed, if given a different time and situation." Kenshin closed his furrowing eyes, and heaved the gigantic one he knew he would never be able to let out if not now. In front of him, Soujirou stared, listening intensively with the utmost care and consideration.  
  
Himura-san himself had been through times harder than himself, and yet he handled it brilliantly... if he never told, no one, indeed would know how Himura-san hid the immensely heart-breaking secret within the one, strong will he had.  
  
Why, Himura-san, are you telling me all these?  
  
Kenshin broke into a smile.  
  
"Why I am telling you all this, Soujirou," the red haired man looked at his subject, "is because I want you to know.  
  
"We have both been through that one hard time in period where we watched our most beloved one, the one we wanted to protect so much, just slip away, right in our very arms. We both know the feeling of self-hate, self-abhor and self-shame... we have both been confused as to how we should deal with the situation...  
  
"And while I went back to killing in hope that the new era, which now had the price of my wife Tomoe's blood on it, would come, soon; you went back to roaming the land, searching for an ideal you knew now had Raikouji Chitsuru's life on the block."  
  
Kenshin stood up and walked to the doors, sliding one open to reveal the night, calm and cool with the few blinking stars greeting our two rurounis.  
  
"We both know we would succeed. The heartache involved was too great for us not to succeed."  
  
He stepped away from the door so that Soujirou could feel the cool night breeze chilling his skin and numbing his flesh. The young boy looked out at the skies, the dark, dark skies with all it's shimmering glories, the rare bright whites dotted plaintively throughout the dark terrain.  
  
"You, Soujirou, will find your ideal." Kenshin smiled in the darkness of the room, feeling the young rurouni's undivided attention nonetheless not seeing. Slowly, he raised his hands to showcase the shining, trembling lights in the stars outside in the clear skies.  
  
"They're all there."  
  
Soujirou's bright, piercing eyes directed attention to whatever was outside. Curiously twinkling blots of whites greeted him.  
  
"In the stars, twinkling every night. In the skies where the lamp of day clads us in perspiration, when the wind grazes us and the snow cools us down..."  
  
Suddenly, Soujirou could feel his hearts focusing. Suddenly, his journey seemed much more interesting...  
  
"When these, and more you have experienced, you will find that the ideal you have seeked so hard and sacrificed so much to get, will be in your grasp. Grasp it tightly, Soujirou. If not for yourself, for Chitsuru, and all those who love you for what you ever were, are and ever will be."  
  
Kenshin's silouetted stood by the door, staring out at the stars just as Soujirou was. That both of them had just related the most painful experiences in their lives and now were smiling for the future and a gone but never to be forgotten past...  
  
"So it is so..." Soujirou's eyes were brimming with tears of mixed origins. He was happy and sad at the same time, his heart ached and rejoiced all at once. Yet he was not confused, for he had a very clear focus on what he would do now.  
  
Kenshin took a step back and turned his head to face the smiling Soujirou. His smile, itself, was pure and sincere.  
  
"May you, one day, find a Kaoru-dono as I have..."  
  
"I will, Himura-san... I know I will..."  
  
There was a pleasant, sweet pause, before Kenshin came to the realization that there was something of the utmost importance to be discussed with Soujirou. By the time Kenshin was about to open his mouth, Soujirou had stood up and was readying himself to exit the room.   
  
"Thank you, Himura-san." The young boy smiled, as sweetly as he could have ever; and ever so sincere in it. "Then I shall take my leave now."  
  
"Ah, just wait for a while..." Kenshin reached out to try to lightly grasp Soujirou's elbow, which instead, due to the dark, grabbed onto a piece of fabric instead.  
  
Soujirou turned around to acknowledge the previous call, and in the event tore his hand further apart from Kenshin, who happened to be grabbing onto the loose bandage fluttering around in dangles.  
  
The bandages fell apart...  
  
Some kind of a doctor Megumi is eh?  
  
The still coolness of the night merely intensified Kenshin's horrified expressions when his eyes laid sight on what should have been kept from him. Soujirou kept his face hidden, ashamed of having hid the injury from Kenshin, and feeling terribly guilty in his trapped conscience.  
  
When he finally looked up, Himura-san's alarmed stare was focused on him. "Soujirou," he started, "what happened to your hand?"  
  
Soujirou contemplated hiding his hand away by folding down the sleeves of his gi, but now that Himura-san had seen it, it really made no difference whether it was hidden or not.  
  
/What need you hide from Himura-san?/ Soujirou checked himself. /Himura-san wouldn't laugh at you, Himura-san... he is the best person you can ever get in another century for advice in matters like this.../   
  
The young boy shook all the hair which had fallen over his eyebrows backwards to clearly stare at Kenshin. "It was poisoned. The dagger Murasaki shot. It was poisoned."  
  
One need not have light to see how much Kenshin's eyes had narrowed. Yet the older rurouni remained surprisingly calm in spite of his fury. Soujirou, despite the stagnant smell of anger, smiled most pleasantly at Kenshin.  
  
"Oro?"  
  
"It's all right, Himura-san, such trifling poisons can be cured easily... it'll itch and pain, but as long as I find the herbal antidote within a week, the arm can be saved."  
  
Kenshin looked somewhat hesitant to believe in Soujirou's words, but found that he had no reason not to believe, so he believed. Gripping the torn off bandages for a while, he stretched out his arm and returned them to Soujirou, who took them with grace.  
  
"Make sure you get well." Kenshin's tone was near warning. "If you don't..." Again, his eyes gleamed. "... I'll make sure that Murasaki hands the antidote over!"  
  
"Yes," Soujirou nodded his head, still smiling, slightly like the emotionless little boy he had used to be. "I know, Himura-san... by the way, what did you actually want to call me back for?"  
  
"Oro." Kenshin stuttered, holding a finger to his mouth in slight disarray. What a pity, he seemed to have totally forgotten what was it he wanted to say... Feeling embarassed, he tucked his hands into his sleeves and gave a sheepish smile, when he felt the paper again.  
  
Aha.  
  
Kenshin drew his hands out, in his fingers a piece of paper with some strange markings on it. "THIS, is what I wanted to talk about."  
  
Something about that piece of paper made Soujirou wince in observation... it just looked... familiar... in a way...  
  
... OF COURSE!  
  
Kenshin held out the folded piece of paper, while Soujirou reached into his garb to fish out another folded piece of paper, which he also held out. The two rurounis stared knowingly at each other for a while, then nodded and went back into the room.  
  
SLAM!  
  
The two folded pieces of papers unfolded, and while Soujirou fitted them together like a puzzle, Kenshin went ahead and brought the lamp closer so the words could be seen. In both persons' eyes, there was a glint of new determination, like a new battle, a new common enemy was underway.  
  
"I recognize these words." Soujirou began, voice somewhat filled with urgency. "It's what Murasaki uses to plan his great big projects he said he would one day fulfill." He tapped impatiently on the wooden floor, determined to figure out what they all meant. Smoothing out the creases in the papers, Soujirou bent lower to take a closer look, and Kenshin helped by bringing the light nearer.  
  
"It's... it's..."  
  
He examined the lines on the paper more, knowing his frustration was building up in the fact that he knew Murasaki was up to something big and in the fact that he knew that he KNEW about this, but just couldn't recall what it actually was...  
  
/The next thing you know, he'll want to dig a tunnel!/  
  
Chitsuru was closer to Murasaki than anyone else...  
  
/... he'll want to dig a tunnel.../  
  
He scanned the pieced together picture, left to right...  
  
/... a tunnel.../  
  
Every moment passing, his eyes brightening with sudden knowledge, and realization.  
  
/... tunnel.../  
  
/... it was... a.../  
  
"A TUNNEL!"  
  
"What?"  
  
He moved his hands over the papers quickly, making sure that his accusations wouldn't be far away from the truth. He wasn't. It was Murasaki's handwriting, and it was indeed of the much talked about 'tunnel' while he was in the Raikouji household.  
  
/One day, Soujirou, I'll dig a large tunnel to connect so many places together so that we don't have to travel in the sun anymore.../  
  
Except this time, Soujirou knew that the tunnel wasn't simply for transportation purposes. He had finally done it. Murasaki had finally succeeded in drawing out the blueprint of his ultimate plan of eccentricity...  
  
But whether it would become reality...  
  
... and why Murasaki bothered letting Soujirou know his plans...  
  
Soujirou looked up at Kenshin, utterly confused and defeated.  
  
"It's him." Soujirou confirmed, to which Kenshin took in the breath he had held so well previously.  
  
He resumed his glance to the two pieces of paper placed together. "If we actually study it, this is the sea, and here is the tunnel connecting it. It's underground, under a strong bank of the river around here and I don't know how he would manage to get it done but..."   
  
Soujirou looked up at Kenshin.  
  
"He will. He's never done something halfway, and I'm afraid he'll be faster in this plan than I thought he could manage..."  
  
There was a short silence where only the movement of fabric became audible in the dark room. Soujirou stood up, one paper in each hand, hands tightly balled into fists, trembling at the movement, as he stared outside again.  
  
It was as if he could hear... the splashing of the rivers, the familiar digging sounds in the Raikouji household... the all too familiar ominous feeling that clad him wherever he went on his roamings...  
  
It was a bad idea to settle down in one place and bring dangers upon people not involved at all, but now that he had, Soujirou knew.  
  
Soujirou knew that history would not repeat itself...  
  
... he knew that Himura-san knew, too...  
  
"Breakfast breakfast!" Kaoru yelled from the kitchen, arranging the things she had on the makeshift table on the now somewhat cleaner looking main dojo halls. She kneeled down and waited for the guys to come exploding into the room.  
  
And waiting, for something that probably wasn't going to happen, wasn't fun at all...  
  
Fortunately, Kenshin stepped into the halls before she decided to do something a little out of character.  
  
"Good morning, Kaoru-dono." He greeted with his usual smile which lit up everybody's day, therefore rendering a good start to it and half the battle won. "What's for breakfast today?"  
  
"The usuals." Kaoru chirped, ushering Kenshin to a spot by the little table. "Good, you're up early before the boys are."  
  
"Good morning."  
  
Kaoru and Kenshin turned around to spot the bleary-eyed Yahiko stride carelessly into the dojo, plumping himself down heavily in front of the table much to the digust of Kaoru.  
  
"Don't you have table manners? And look at you! You look as if you've been up the whole night making a life-altering decision!"  
  
"Well maybe I did stay up the whole night to make a life-altering decision..." Yahiko grumbled, incessantly despite his absent effort to keep his temper in check... which was especially hard when one was faced with the task of gobbling down Kaoru's food right after his words.  
  
Kenshin just managed to break them up before breakfast was gone.  
  
"Calm calm, you two!"  
  
There was a thud at the doorframe and everybody else looked up to see the ever-smiling Soujirou standing there, looking absolutely silly.   
  
Yahiko broke the monotony first.  
  
"Soujirou. You... erm... are you really so cold?"  
  
"Am I really so... AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh yes..." Soujirou did a little jiggle and peeled the thick blankets off his body, then shaking his hair free of the turban he had made with his gi. "Give me a minute..." He smiled and disappeared to the left side of the doorframe in a little noise, returning just as quickly with hands behind his back, all ready to go. "Sorry to have troubled you so much!" Soujirou walked in and naturally reached his right hand to scratch the left, stopping only after he noticed Kaoru's death-glare at him.  
  
He sat down comfortably on the remaining side of the table and beamed at everyone else there.  
  
"Let's eat!"  
  
Everyone nodded, but no one started.  
  
"What's the matter?" Soujirou inquired, himself knowing full well the answer.  
  
"Yes... What IS the matter... ?" The little bokken girl had her weapon all well prepared and ready to strike at any of the defiance disciples or wanderers of the land should they refuse to submit.  
  
"YES MADAM!" All three shouted, okay, with the exception of Yahiko, who just sat there sulking and not looking at anybody in particular. Quickly our two rurounis wolfed down their porridge in record time, without looking too green in the face at that either. Immediately after the rice, they went on to the vegetables, then the bread, then the dough... everything in random order, leaving finally no trace of anything on the table.  
  
Should we be glad they did not eat the table?  
  
"We have finished!" They chimed with unique similance, leaving a wide eyed Kaoru staring unbelievingly at the breakfast table.  
  
Yahiko took one more stare and then stood up to walk out of the room.  
  
"Yahiko, where to?" Kenshin only had enough time to turn around and ask. He could not even be sure if Yahiko could hear him.  
  
"River." Came the faraway voice of a now faraway Yahiko. His receding figure eventually disappeared into the strong rays of the morning sun, crunching snow as he did. The three in the room stared at the seemingly troubled young man and started to worry slightly.  
  
Whatever had suddenly caused this little change in character?  
  
After eyeing each other for a while, Soujirou got up, still wearing the same old smile he had since he entered the room.  
  
"Tofu, anyone?"  
  
Kaoru and Kenshin exchanged glances.  
  
"Yes please."  
  
"But if you meet up with some 'disturbances' on the way, it's okay, we could do without the tofu."  
  
The young rurouni flashed a peace sign and grabbed a clean slate from nearby, exiting the main dojo into the bright sunshine to get the tofu.  
  
Never mind if Murasaki could see his every move.  
  
Never mind if he might be wrong.  
  
He would just wait for everything to fall into place now.  
  
The road to the shop was preceded by a little grass valley sinking into a mesmerizing river in summertime. Soujirou sauntered slowly, leisurely down the path, absorbing whatever sights he could behold from both ways. In the process he made sure he'd memorized where the important landmarks were so he wouldn't go groping to try to find the dojo later, and carefully, observed a little figure leaning towards himself by the riverside.  
  
The wind gently caressed the young rurouni's face, as he contemplated what his next step would be. Gazing down at the little black shadow hidden by the trees, surrounded by minimal blots of ice every here and there, Soujirou wondered if he was doing the right thing.  
  
Everybody wondered if they did the right thing.  
  
/I know I would like to... but whether I did or not.../ Soujirou glanced into the further distance, then tossed his head and started the downslope walk to Yahiko. /... ah, we'll look and see./  
  
The river was looking extra unique today. Yahiko decided, looking at the little bits and pieces of ice congregating by the riverside nearer to the shore, while the main central area of the river remained relatively untouched, but freezing all the same.  
  
Yahiko smoothed the pebble in his hand, then flicked it into the river, watching it bounce and finally disappear beneathe the depths of the watery deep.  
  
/Get a life, Yahiko, who're YOU angry at?/ He sighed, resting his head on the bark of the tree behind. /You know you're angry at no one, so what is it that you can't put down and talk openly about?/  
  
Yahiko sighed again, lifting his body away from the tree and sitting in a hunched position to gaze at the river... still moving... still going and will be, in a more defined way when the snow by it's sides unfreezes itself.  
  
He was a little surprised to hear footsteps softly threading, behind him, coming closer with every second (but of course!) but sounding comforting despite the mysteriousness.  
  
Yahiko slightly turned his head to catch a glimpse of the impish Soujirou smiling down at him, holding a tub of something which looked like the typical Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu Tofu Holder, and looking a little pleased with himself.  
  
"Good morning. May I sit down?"  
  
The younger boy did nothing but turn back to stare at the river. Soujirou took that as a consent and went ahead to sit down. Having settled down pretty comfortably, he gazed upon the river surfaces like what Yahiko was doing.  
  
They sat, observing the river for a while, before Soujirou broke the melodious tune of the rushing waters.  
  
"It's a nice place to sit down and think in."  
  
Soujirou was right. It was indeed a nice place. "Yup." Yahiko plainly answered and stared more intensely into the river.  
  
"It looks innocent too..." Soujirou spoke again, this time more like muttering to himself. "... we'd never knew if anything dangerous was hiding under it or something..."  
  
This somehow, got Yahiko's attention, as he turned to look at the taller boy with a curious glint in his eye. "What was that?"  
  
Soujirou turned, as if already expecting his words to gain some reaction at least. "River contemplation, I'm sure you do this lots of time when you're down and thinking about why you're the only one in the entire dojo who doesn't seem to be able to do anything right."  
  
Yahiko practically jerked.  
  
"Your despondancy is well-hidden for a good cause, Myoujin-san, but I'm sure there is a limit even for good things?"  
  
Yahiko and Soujirou stared at each other for quite some time, the former feasting in the wisdom of which the latter's eyes possessed, while the latter simply radiating whatever wisdom he had to spare.  
  
The younger one sighed, heavily, but went back to the river instead. "It's just so infuriating at times."  
  
"Ahah."  
  
"I mean, everyone else is so strong... Kenshin is the strongest there is, Sanosuke, though a little of second grade is still strong, even Kaoru is strong and so is Megumi for her abilities! Why... why am I the only one still so weak? Why do I have to be the one right down in the rung of the ladder? How come I'm always the one who needs protection from some of Kenshin's old time enemies? Why can't I help mainstream... ?"  
  
So this is the saying of 'like-master-like-disciple'. Soujirou smiled caringly. Looks like Himura-san doesn't do a good job of updating his family on rurouni news, but as long as he could help... as long as he could and as long as they still loved him...  
  
"What makes you think being protected isn't a good thing?"  
  
Again, Yahiko's eyes widened in effect. He'd never thought of it before. Soujirou was right... was being protected such a bad thing after all... ?  
  
"Have you ever thought about what really makes a person strong?"  
  
Yahiko blinked his wide, unwielding eyes to find them wanting to stare at Soujirou, hoping that it would in effect extract the answer from him.  
  
"Was there not a time when your so-mentioned 'strong people' were never under the stage of protection before?  
  
"What made them strong, was that time when they were protected. They saw and knew, tasted first hand the feelings of being protected by somebody. They knew the burden they were, and saw how much the want of their safety prompted the protector to give their all...  
  
"It was true protection that gave them the want to become strong and then protect... was it not so... Myoujin-san? If then, they had never been given a chance to feel protection, would they have wanted to be strong and then protect?"  
  
Soujirou stopped, and noticed that Yahiko was still staring into the rivers, seemingly captivated by something in it. It was not hard to see what was so amazing by this creation. The rivers would rush into the seas and the seas into the skies where the skies would come down and then the cycle repeated...  
  
"It's not wrong to want to be strong." Soujirou cringed inwardly, remembering the truth Shishio had taught him. "Being strong helps you to be able to help so many people..."  
  
He turned to look at the young boy beside him. "But true strength comes from within, from how you push open the ice above the surface to become an everlasting water stream, flowing and replacing, abundant in your supply of love and ability to protect the ones you truly love, the ones truly deserving your help... living and reliving the heartaches of your life but not succumbing to them, merely using them as the pushing factor in your quest for true strength...  
  
"You are a river of ice yourself, Myoujin-san. When the day comes, you will break open the ice with your strength and finally know the true meaning of becoming strong in face of everything else. But until then, would it not be better to learn to be protected, and then give yourself as a protector?"  
  
He was not sure how Yahiko was feeling right now, but he was pretty sure Yahiko had nodded quite a lot of times during his one-way discourse. He smiled, knowing the sweet feeling of success, whether it was merely wishful thinking on his part or truly mutual, was always pleasant. It was like another job well done, another life cleared up...   
  
"Say..." Came the younger boy's voice, as a soft, playful punch nudged into Soujirou's ribs. "... what're you doing here anyway?" Yahiko faced Soujirou fully, smiling very happily while he was at it.  
  
Of course, when the road you took suddenly seemed so much clearer, a smile or two would be inevitable.  
  
Soujirou waved the platter around, smiling his eyes into a close. "I was sent for tofu, but I think there's no need for that now."  
  
Yahiko almost died stiffling the giggles. Now where had he heard that line before...  
  
He watched the young rurouni stand up and put up a signal for 'see you later', before standing up himself and waving, watching in the meantime, Soujirou walk up the slopes and back where he supposedly came from.  
  
"Ah life." Yahiko stretched himself, then realized how much his stomach had been growling all this while. Suddenly, even Kaoru's cooking would be irresitable, dangling in front of his nose, letting him smell all those... food... edible stuff...  
  
Maybe Kaoru still had some of his porridge left over...  
  
Soujirou paused and felt the chilling winds whip up all around him. It seemed that everybody in Himura-san's side was a little more clear-headed and slightly more knowledable now, but how would that help in this new battle he would be facing with them? Bowing his head, he smiled sweetly to no one in particular.  
  
At least he didn't let his rurouni conscience down by pretending not to observe the little disturbances within the Kenshingumi.  
  
And again, despair filled him when he thought of Murasaki, his worries eventually bringing his sights back to the glazed river surfaces.  
  
/Do you really have a plan under that river, Murasaki?/ Soujirou wondered, eyes deep and pondering. /Do you?/  
  
And for a brief moment, he thought he saw Chitsuru waving at him from the other side of the river, trying to shout something at him. She looked happy... just like the night she fell into the deep waters... she looked so peaceful and happy...  
  
Sometimes, hallucinations could be brief but encouraging...  
  
Soujirou took one further step closer to the Kamiya Dojo. He tightened the knot in his stomach and continued the pace.  
  
The day was beginning, and the battle would too.  
  
Wait for me, Murasaki. This is between you and me...  
  
No one else... can qualify to ask for your forgivenes...  
  
Murasaki... and Chitsuru...  
  
  
END PART SIX  
  
23/7/98  
  



	8. Chapter Seven

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
Not a yaoi fic, not quite entertaining anyway but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.  
  
Anyone willing to trade braincells can mail me.  
Anyone willing to sell time can mail me.  
Anyone willing to take over the fic is MOST MOST WELCOMED to mail me.  
  
Well in case you failed to notice  
In case you failed to see  
This is my heart, bleeding before you  
This is me down on my knees  
And these foolish games are tearing me apart  
Your thoughtless words are breaking my heart  
Foolish Games by Jewel  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part Seven: Foolish Games  
  
  
"What're you looking at?"  
  
Caught a little off guard, Soujirou transferred attention from the river to the little boy now already by his side, beaming almost radiantly. Seeing the little light on his face, Soujirou could not help but also smile just as wide.  
  
"Nothing in particular." The young rurouni said, then shifted his weight and prepared to go back to the Kamiya Dojo. Yahiko released his hands from behind his head and tottered quietly beside Soujirou, even if was just for accompaniance.  
  
After all, they had a common destination.  
  
Sano walked into the dojo, looking slightly less than frustrated. Kenshin looked up from his laundry just in time to spot the lanky young man walking aimlessly around the courtyards, biting on his usual piece of fish bone.  
  
"Good morning, Sanosuke." Kenshin greeted with charm, smiling his generous morning smiles and snapping the dirt and water out of the clothes once again. "You seem distracted today." Kenshin further observed when Sano tripped over a protruding rock from the snow in the event of turning around to reply to Kenshin's greeting.  
  
The white clad fighter shook snow from off his face, head, garb and then nodded. "I think I am." He nodded slowly. "There's been weird sounds coming from under the river where I stay..."  
  
Kenshin soaked a garment into a bucket of water and then smiled. "Such disturbances are nothing to be worried about, Sano."  
  
"No no, you don't understand." Sanosuke came closer. "It's not the supernatural we're all afraid of, it's that old cave down by the side of the cliff near the sea!" He mimicked zombie and tried walking around for no apparent reason at all other than pure entertainment, and ended up causing grevious hurt upon his own flesh.  
  
Kaoru crunched ice and sauntered over. "What ABOUT the old cave? It's been sealed for ages! No one in Tokyo sane enough would want to open it up again." She grumbled elaboratively. Kenshin's eyebrows went up in surprise. Now that was something he hadn't really heard about. An old cave by the side of the cliff at the seas? Hmmm...  
  
"But that's my point exactly!" Sanosuke leapt onto his feet. "I can safely tell you I'm telling the truth. That old cave is open, and if we don't re-seal it now, there are going to be areas in danger."  
  
Kaoru stubbornly swatted Sano with her bokken, which although was easily avoided, was not easily retreated from. "I SAID!: No one sane enough in Tokyo would want to open that cave! BESIDES, the stone sealing it's been there for ages! How could it be removed just so easily? Huh?"  
  
There was something sinister going on, Kenshin decided, but something which he had apparantly no knowledge to due to a not entirely full understanding of the shores by the river in the seas or the sands...  
  
Perhaps this weird weather spectrum was brought about by the opening of this so-called dangerous cave... ?  
  
Whatever it was, Kenshin decided, it would have nothing to do with the crisis he felt Soujirou and everybody in the dojo shared right now. He dipped the clothes right back into the waters, wondering deeply at the rippled reflections on the surface, wondering so very deeply...  
  
"We're home!" A chorus of voices drifted in, sweetly, addressing the other three in the dojo courtyards with an ultimate sense of warmness. Even Kenshin looked up warmly and found himself unconsciously welcoming the duo back, or maybe even consciously acknowledging that he indeed, had a home to belong to...  
  
... just like what Soujirou meant when he announced that he was 'home' to the dwellers of the Kamiya Dojo...  
  
"Welcome back!" Kaoru, Kenshin and even Sano perked up at the entrance of the two newcomers. Soujirou slid open the door easily and stepped in, beaming brightly as usual. Yahiko came in soon, with his usual big, proud strides and confident face.  
  
"Why Yahiko!" Kaoru's tone suddenly dipped into a playful muse. "How come you're with Soujirou?"  
  
Whether it was the light or it was real, Yahiko's cheeks flushed a little red before his usual strong looking outlook took over. "How come I can't be with Soujirou? There's nothing wrong with him is there?" He bit back, fighting back like the Yahiko / Kaoru quarrel everybody in the dojo knew. Kenshin laughed good-naturedly and started snapping water out of his laundry. Even Sano looked somewhat amused.  
  
"Of course I don't mean that." Kaoru's racoon image started to wade over eventually. "I meant, you mean you needed Soujirou to guide you back to the dojo? Awwww... can't blame a young boy could we... ?"  
  
Everybody sweatdropped and the moments later became suspenseful. Kenshin could swear everyone would be defeated with just a feather shot from a catapult. They knew that without a doubt, Yahiko and Kaoru would start their full scale, everyday practice of The Classic Kamiya Dojo Master Disciple Defiance Exercise...  
  
... which Yahiko dismissed with a mere snort.  
  
"You can say whatever you like, I'm going to my room now." Yahiko held his head high, folded his arms across his chest and disappeared beyond the dojo courtyards with a quick twist.  
  
Soujirou just grinned from ear to ear.  
  
Kenshin was in a bit more of a shock.  
  
Kaoru was practically trying to make sure this wasn't a dream.  
  
Sanosuke's face just went into double fault system...  
  
If shocks could come twice unannounced, Kenshin wasn't sure what he could expect next... he stared unblinking in the direction Yahiko last walked in, somewhat pleased but confused. Before long, however, there were slight snow-crunching sounds beside him and he looked up to observe Soujirou giving a slightly gloatish grin. "He's grown up, Himura-san. He's become quite ever so matured hasn't he?"  
  
Kenshin stared in the direction Yahiko went, then back at Soujirou's sincerely pleased face. Slowly, his lips just shaped into a smile and those purple swirls of emotions simply lit up to show his overjoyed soul.  
  
"He's grown up." Kenshin found himself agreeing, almost without conviction. "He's definitely, grown up."  
  
It was a fine... fine morning indeed... while the dark clouds above were threatening to bring back the snowstorm which had occurred recently, the rest of the Kenshingumi were not easily perturbed by this. After all, the sun was still there, shining peacefully amongst the people on the land and defeating the dark clouds trying to hover beneathe it.  
  
Peacefully? Indeed?  
  
"Argh." Sano sighed in his usual frustrated manner, kicking around at a few pieces of melting snow. "I'll just go check out that tunnel by the sea." He further grumbled, before waving what vaguely looked like a farewell sign, disappearing beyond the dojo doors.  
  
"Don't investigate too hard!" Kenshin jokingly shouted to air, finishing his final piece of laundry and standing up to carry the wooden bucket into the kitchen. Kaoru swung her shinai around and headed towards the dojo, determined to perfect a few strokes before she had a meal. The two of them vanished, almost simultaneously, into the main hall, leaving a pensive Soujirou staring at the door which led to the outside.  
  
A tunnel... by the sea... ?  
  
Without consciously knowing, Soujirou's determination balled his hands into fists, striding with slow, but purposeful steps towards the direction of the sea.  
  
The sooner he'd settle this, the better.  
  
Sanosuke stroked his chin gently and slightly touched the fragmented sides of the gapping tunnel hole opening carefully. "Hmmm... interesting..." He muttered to no one in particular, shifting his eyes to the side where the large rock blocking the tunnel had seemingly been rolled aside with bare strength.  
  
Yet he knew it could not have been possible. Whoever did this must have had lots of troopers in his regiments to be able to roll such a massive stone aside in one night.  
  
He then turned to stare at the pitch-black entrance of the hole, contemplating the effects he would receive if he staked his claim and went in. Alone. It would be a tough decision, and, nothing was so curious in that little dark hole that Sano felt a magnet effect on it anyway.  
  
Why had he bothered, anyway?  
  
Fighter's sixth sense...  
  
Something big was bound to happen here. Sanosuke snorted, as the wind pulled over and whipped his hair and jacket up in a flurry of movement. No idiot would create such a dangerous scenario 'just for the fun of it'.  
  
And definitely, no one sane enough to think.  
  
The wild wind continued to howl through the ebbing sides of the lime caked tunnel walls. It was crying, the sound was so eerie, so disturbing, and yet so... peaceful in it's approach.  
  
To go, or not to go?  
  
"Good day, Sagara-san." A controlled voice burst into hearing range. Sanosuke turned around, fighting blood boiled to the top, as he readied himself for any ambush to face by the newly distorted voice in the winds.  
  
A very weird looking Soujirou was boring into him.  
  
Or rather, through him.  
  
He was looking at the tunnel. Strange expression for that, too.  
  
Soujirou's gi and hakama flipped about tenaciously through the wild whippings of the wind. He slowly approached the large entrance to the tunnel and appeared to be apparently in slow consideration, brows slightly creased in considering a notion.  
  
"An extremely awful choice for a tunnel..." The younger boy pouted, creasing his face further.  
  
"Yeh." Sano started slowly, unsure of what Soujirou's purpose here was. Although he did not seem antagonistic, Sanosuke knew he could never be sure, especially of someone who was under Shishio Makoto, the jerk of the century... Shrugging off all negative thoughts, Sano pointed to the walls of the tunnel entrance, knowing it wouldn't do very well to start a quarrel about minor things of the past right here.   
  
That's right, the future was at concern here.  
  
"The sides have been glossed with something of a slippery substance. It guess that's what facilitates the rolling away of the huge rock entrance." Sanosuke highlighted the basic happenings, looking at Soujirou while he did.  
  
The younger boy nodded, and started to walk right inside.  
  
"WAIT!" Sano shouted. "Don't! You'll get lost! Haven't you realized? This is just like another Mount Hiei maze in Shishio Makoto's haven!"  
  
Soujirou's figure stopped slightly, but was not in a thinking pose. He turned around, eyes gleaming full with newly found determination.  
  
"There is something I must find out, Sagara-san." His voice was calm but edging with calm wisdom all the same. The impulse of Soujirou's youth was not present, as if it had never been there at all. The terrors of living a bloodied life... had it consumed the young boy totally in this aspect?  
  
Soujirou slightly disregarded everything else, like he was able to read anybody and everybody's mind, like he knew... like he lived through all possible circumstances...  
  
Which was not necessarily false, either.  
  
He blinked, turned around the walked further into the darkness. Before he gave Sanosuke a chance to bellow his opinion, Soujirou softly used the echos of the large tunnel walls all around to voice out a part of his own.  
  
"If you'd spent half your life believing in a world so artifically created, and stepped out to find that you had lived in a world that had never existed, you will know why I'm doing this, Sagara-san. Please, please don't try to stop me."  
  
The last shadows of the moving Soujirou was engulfed in the embraces of the ambiguous darkness.  
  
/... to find that you had lived in a world that had never existed.../  
  
If Sanosuke could laugh, he would. Painful irony, set in Sanosuke's final thoughts of the Sekihoutai had never been able to be brushed away right down to a time like this.  
  
And to be reminded of someone who thought he'd never know?  
  
But there was still some loopholes and gaps to be filled in. Without a single thought of remorse or regret, he buckled after Soujirou, also disappearing in the dark surroundings of the newly opened tunnel.  
  
What would they find inside?  
  
Soujirou's eyes had adjusted pretty well to the darkness and he was already scraping through some wall fungus for experiment. The whole tunnel had a wet feeling to it, although the soil was only muddy but not totally wet. Every step he took his slippers would stash through some soft mud, firm, but not holding on very well. Behind him, Sanosuke cursed as his foot sank into yet another inch of unstable mud.  
  
The younger boy slightly chuckled. "Keep by the sides of the tunnel, Sagara-san, or you'll be cursing your way in and out." He smiled, experimentally testing the soil ahead of him. "The mud here is firmer." He commented, bravely taking another step.  
  
Sanosuke said nothing, only followed Soujirou by sticking near the sides. He still cursed, anyway, although it was softer now.  
  
"Why are you cursing?" Soujirou mused, reaching into his sleeves to take out the two tunnel map pieces. From the information he had garnered by touching here and there and remembering a few landmarks as well as major fork turns, he had come to know a rough outline of the tunnel and was ready to dispute the authenticity of the map.  
  
And whether Murasaki had done it. In such a short time...  
  
Behind him, he heard Sano suddenly stop in his step. A little startled, Soujirou turned around to confront the sudden halt.  
  
"Are you cursing because you thought you shouldn't have followed me?" Soujirou smiled sweetly again, fiddling around with the maps to have a firm grasp on them. Paper were filmsy, once they dropped into the mud it was going to be a disaster.  
  
Sano shook his head to Soujirou's above pronounced statement. "Following you was one thing, understanding what you said to me was another." He grunted, and faced the other's bright, wondering eyes. "You said you came in only to find out something based on the fact that you had lived in a world you never existed? That's fine with me. But how does that statement apply to the situation you and all of us are in right now?" Sanosuke inquired, almost carelessly, but an attempt, anyway.  
  
Soujirou's eyes dimmed slightly. "Ah." He breathed. "That."  
  
"Yes." Sanosuke nodded. "That."  
  
Sighing, the younger boy slunk into a slight squat beside the lime covered tunnel walls. "Sagara-san, you are someone who had been through this phase of life before, isn't it?" Soujirou sighed.  
  
"Of course." Sanosuke announced unbashedly. As if he was almost proud of the admittance of this fact, only that he wasn't really 'proud'.  
  
"Wasn't it painful?"  
  
The addressed stop to think about it. No, he didn't really need to think about it, it was obvious how painful living away from the Sekihoutai had been. For years and years and years, the lifestyle he thought was going to be prevailant throughout the land turned out to be a life which now had never existed.  
  
It was painful to shear away from the life he always thought existed. "Yes." Sanosuke softly agreed. Of course it was painful.  
  
"Wasn't it awe-inspiring?"  
  
Sanosuke started. Awe-inspiring? He hardly called a life like his after the Sekihoutai 'awe-inspiring'. Did Soujirou knew what he was talking about? All those morals and beliefs they had practiced in a world created by situations, to suddenly throw them away, to suddenly realize this world had never been there at all... awe... inspiring?  
  
"Didn't that awe simply screamed at you to prevent any other parallels from happening... ?"  
  
Hmm. Now /that/ was true.  
  
If he couldn't have happiness in his world previously, at least those around him should be granted that.  
  
Soujirou stood up.  
  
He was tired. Tired of everything Murasaki was trying to tell him. He was tired of hiding, tired of hiding anything from Himura-san's family, because they deserved to know, to know everything and anything to be related to Soujirou.  
  
Despite knowing about his past, despite having once been at ends with each other, they accepted him into their home. No one had ever done that truly without obligation, and Soujirou knew...  
  
... he had to show his gratitude.  
  
"Come, Sagara-san." Soujirou smiled. "Let's explore this tunnel first, then I have something to tell you."  
  
Sanosuke frowned, watching the receding figure of Soujirou. It seemed imperative that this boy never failed to surprise him. He seemed almost abnormal, to say the least.  
  
But something about Soujirou just attracted everybody to him. Perhaps it was his radiance in innocence of the world, which was eventually true, anyway. Soujirou seemed unspotted, yet spotted at the same time. It was just the way with Kenshin, the rurouni everybody loved to love.  
  
If anything, Soujirou had a bright future ahead...  
  
... if he survived from the dark prescence right now...  
  
At a little tavern by the side of the mountains, where business was never usually bustling unless at lunch-time, a figure sat down at the only table available at the moment and placed his order for refreshments.  
  
It came quickly enough, and the boy started to tuck into his meal. The lady-boss smiled at him, being naturally curious and asked. "Do you live anywhere near here?"  
  
The young boy stopped eating and smiled up at the lady boss, a kindly old lady making her living by the sidewalks with her cookery skills. "Not really. I live on the other side of Tokyo." The young boy replied, then returned to his eating. "You cook wonderful food, aunty." He commented further, after finishing whatever he had ordered.  
  
"Don't mention it, please." The old lady nodded in agreement, endorsing in the fact that her food was indeed well cooked. She came over to start to clear away the dishes, noticing again, with curiousity that he carried something which had the shape of a sword. "Is that a sword?" She asked pleasantly, expecting quite a negative answer, since swords had been banned from since the ninth year of Meiji.  
  
The young boy squirmed, but relaxed, knowing that the old lady was of no one dangerous. "Yes." He admitted, watching with glee as the lady gasped in slight surprise. "And thank you for the food, I shall take my leave now." He stood up, and turned away, without a second glance at the tiny roadstall.  
  
"Aunty." He stopped after a few steps. "Out of goodness of my heart, I think you should move your stall as far away from here as possible." He started to pick up his pace once again.  
  
The old lady's eyes widened in effect.  
  
"Something rowdy is sure to happen within these few days." The last words of the young gentleman flowed through the rasping winds into the ears of the old lady-boss.  
  
Whether due to fear or the wind, the old lady trembled. The dust started to whip up as the snow finally melted to reveal drier land, sand, and to allow the tossing winds to pick up grain after grain, to throw them around and whip them into a tornedo of destruction...  
  
/Time to pack up./ The old lady only murmured in her mind to herself, carefully handling the broken wooden furniture. No point having business here when the rain was imminent in the area now.  
  
In the distance, two more blurred figures could be seen threading through the winds bravely, now ala a desert storm in the making with all the sand and mud zooming around as if playing hide and seek with each other. Both the newcomers to the scene had their arms up to their faces in defence of whatever precious senses that were there. Very soon, however, the duo could be seen in their full colour.  
  
The one dressed in the traditional blue gi and hakama had a slight ponytail tied to his back, which was now fluttering around in the strong wave of sudden barometric change. The other had a band tied around his forehead, red and slightly battered by the weather too, but flying around violently through the winds as well.  
  
"Well." The shorter one spoke. "Do you think we should find some shelter, Sagara-san?"  
  
The so-mentioned Sagara-san merely grunted. "Yeh. I think we'd better. I'm getting sand in my mouth."  
  
The other one laughed, and they both dived into the deserted side shop which the old lady had long packed and left. There was a slightly battered leather roof atop the flimsy wooden stand, but enough for a short shelter anyway.  
  
Immediately, Sanosuke started to spit out whatever foreign material had entered into his mouth. Soujirou merely laughed again, being one who had trained himself to find everything and anything funny. He dusted his gi with a smile and then leaned back against the shelter post to sigh.  
  
Sanosuke finished with whatever he wanted to spit out, then allowed the layers of air in it's compression and de- to caress his face.  
  
The brief summary of Soujirou's past from the person's own mouth, of course, was something elaborate enough, thought not very elaborate, to tell Sanosuke that, yes indeed, everybody had story of their own, and had their own dilemmas to face.  
  
Except for Soujirou's case, he was sure Kenshin would not allow him to face it alone.  
  
Neither would he, or any of the Kenshingumi, anyway.  
  
"So." Sanosuke could only find these words in his vocabulary. "What are you going to do about it now?" He was inquiring the obvious. Almost wincing, he looked at the once ever-smiling Soujirou darken his face to an almost out of character stance, before facing him.  
  
"I'm taking it one step at a time." Soujirou's lips tried to twitch into a convincing smile. "If he doesn't move, I'm not moving." He nodded, seemingly pleased with the way he had decided to handle the situation.  
  
Sanosuke wasn't anywhere near pleased, however. "But have you ever wondered what he opened up the tunnel? Do you know how insane that action is? Come rain or high-tide, the whole tunnel will be flooded, when it gets too dangerous, the riverbank might collapse and Tokyo will be in danger..."  
  
The other boy merely smiled again, playing with something in his hands. It was a greenish, lumpish, fleshy leaf, pricky at it's edges and having slight splotches of a lighter shade of green than the main one.  
  
"What is that?" Sano was irritated that he wasn't getting the answers he wanted. He had always been the impatient one, something so deep set he knew he could not try to change.  
  
"Aloe vera." Soujirou simply stated, still playing around with it.  
  
"Some kindda plant weapon?" Sanosuke further inquired.  
  
"Nope. Medical herb. Great for facials, too."  
  
The older boy facefaulted for a while, wondering for a moment why Soujirou ever wanted to pluck that thing from off the tunnel entrance. He noticed with disinterest as Soujirou tucked the plant leaf away, then refocused his attention on the main point.  
  
"Actually, Soujirou, what if... that guy doesn't intend to move after you've moved?"  
  
Soujirou had closed his eyes, to feel and listen to the rushing winds outside the shelter. Not that they were very sheltered anyway, Soujirou's hair was still getting stuck in his face. At least, the sand had bothered them less.  
  
He heaved.  
  
"That's not quite possible, Sagara-san." The younger boy opened his eyes, which were suddenly flashing with a dangerous glint.  
  
He looked almost like a parallel of Rurouni reverting to Hitokiri.  
  
In yet another moment, he was staring out in mid-space, unfazed, but bothered by something. He narrowed his eyes, while Sanosuke stared on at the younger boy, somewhat fascinated, but puzzled.  
  
"He will definitely strike first." Soujirou's voice had a dangerous edge to it now. He reached out his hand, ready to grasp seeming thin air, when suddenly, a whizzing sound caught Sano's ears hostage, snapping him into attention.  
  
There was no need for worry.  
  
Soujirou caught the arrow very cleanly.  
  
It didn't stand a percentage of a chance.  
  
In the next moment, the arrow was slammed sharp side first into the back of the shelter, and a weird looking Soujirou was already in stance, as if preparing for more arrows to stream in.  
  
"From daggers, to arrows, to who knows what next." The boy in blue softly whispered. Sanosuke stood in stance too, knowing that this new foe seemed to always have the weather to his advantage. So either he knew how to bide by the time very well, or he was a weatherman.  
  
Soujirou grimaced, thwacking with seeming anger, another arrow to the side. "This is Murasaki's way of telling me to keep on the edge of my nerves. It. Is. Driving. Me. INSANE."  
  
The other one nodded. If he was the receipant of all these surprise attacks, he would have wanted the enemy to just show himself and be done with, not do all the silly things like throwing knives and daggers and now arrows and probably stones next, so that he could sleep in peace finally.  
  
"DUCK!" He heard Soujirou shout.  
  
They had a limited fighting arena, and just like the snow, the flying sand was a natural opponent they had to fight with.  
  
But despite all these, the battle was on.  
  
"The wind's blown all the snow away, but the sand's starting to come in. What a stupid way to start a day." Yahiko grumbled, swinging his wooden sword around experimentally. No chance of going out to help out in the restaurant today now.  
  
He briefly wondered what Kenshin was doing, then remembered that Kaoru had ordered him to prepare a bath. He chuckled, knowing Kenshin was so the domestic male-servant, that he wouldn't refuse to do the job. Walking heavily on the wooden platformed, Yahiko finally reached the main hall. He strode confidentally inside, ready for whatever training Kaoru had in mind for him.  
  
Except for... where was Kaoru?  
  
What? The bath was so quickly readied? Yahiko sighed. Nevermind, a day without that ugly witch as a teacher wouldn't matter so much.  
  
"HAh hah! I Myoujin Yahiko will defeat all the enemies that come in my way! Whither rain or shine, snow or sand!" The little boy indulged in a little self-praise, to swing around experimentally with his wooden sword in the stance of what he usually saw Kenshin in.  
  
To his absolute surprise, his wooden sword did hit something. He glanced around the room. There was nothing, except for the sound of the occasional wind howling, there was nothing noteworthy. His eyes narrowed, in effect.  
  
"WHO?" He demanded of whoever was there. There was a complacency in the air, but nothing else. Slowly, Yahiko dropped his guard to look at what exactly had he thwacked away.  
  
It was a wooden arrow.  
  
With a bit of cloth stuck to it's sharp side.  
  
Curiously, but cautiously, Yahiko bent down to pick up the arrow. There was nothing weird about it, and the dojo had had so much of daggers and arrows recently that it was nothing surprising anymore.  
  
But this man was after Soujirou this time, not Kenshin.  
  
Whoever he was after, Yahiko knew that they would all face it together. It wouldn't be fair to let one person face it alone.  
  
Especially not when their sole survival depended on the way their lives intertwined with each other.  
  
A strange smell filled Yahiko's nostrils, suddenly, and he felt dizzy, confounded. What was that smell? It was clogging his brains, fogging his logic... he tried to stand up, but things were getting worse due to the effects of hyper-ventilation. He gacked, his mouth open in a silent cry, before collapsing to the ground with a pained expression.  
  
Outside, deliberate footsteps approached the dojo.  
  
Yahiko strained to see one last time, who was the one behind all these. He caught sight of a young boy, perhaps younger than Soujirou and near Kaoru's age, but in all effect his eyes spelt of something older and more dangerous. He tilted his head to one side in a maniacal attempt to look threatening. He succeeded, anyway.  
  
Yahiko's consciousness bunked out, but not before finally hearing what the newcomer had to say for himself.  
  
"For everything he's done to me, I want him to answer in double reason why."  
  
Then there was a sound of paper rustling, and something slamming into the wooden walls of the dojo.  
  
Then there was nothing.  
  
A little while later, Sanosuke got brave enough to look out from his vantage point and squirmed. The winds still hadn't given up. Worse still, it had actually started to rain.  
  
"I think the coast is clear." Soujirou sounded out from beside him, rising to full height. Sano followed, but was still wary. They scanned the terrain for a brief moment, and finally decided that it was safe enough, even with the natural barriers, to step out from the shelter.  
  
"That guy sure had us anchored." Sanosuke grumbled, and meaning it. "I'd hate to be ambushed like that as and when it happened!"  
  
"Me too..." Soujirou brushed away the sand that had gotten into his hair without him knowing.  
  
"Then you're sure one guy with lots of patience." The other commented. "Tell me, are you going to kill him when you find him?"  
  
Soujirou did not answer. His hands were hurting from catching too many arrows, and fortunately, none of them he caught head on.  
  
Would he kill him?  
  
Could he, was the question.  
  
"How far is it to the dojo?" Soujirou suddenly perked up and asked. Sanosuke looked at him, as if searching for whether he suspected anything fishy to be happening there. He glanced at the surroundings. He never was good in finding directions.  
  
"Probably just down the road, turn left at the corner, walk straight." He made a wild guess, and hoped he was right. Soujirou's eyes gleamed, and immediately he started to run.  
  
"Come on!" He shouted at the flabbergasted Sanosuke still trapped in his own sea of thoughts. "No time, but I think... I think..."  
  
Sanosuke ran, anyway. That's right, there wasn't any need to 'think'. This new enemy was getting from cunning, to irritating, to despicable.  
  
There wasn't any honour in him at all.  
  
Naught.  
  
"Kaoru-dono!"  
  
No answer.  
  
"KAORU-DONO! YAHIKO!!"  
  
Silence.  
  
Now wasn't the time to joke. Kenshin tried to reassure himself. He could hardly hear himself over the sand and wind, less say a reply to what he was asking for. Carefully, he stepped out of the bathing room to test the surroundings. Immediately, he stepped back in.  
  
Darn, and he thought snow was bad. Yes, true, snow was now bad memories, sand was the current baddie.  
  
He sighed. Kaoru-dono wouldn't be needing her bath now. At least, if she had wanted one, she'd have to be prepared to take another one once she got out with all that sand attacking her...  
  
Bravely, he heaved and stepped out into the winds, his small frame almost being blown away once his whole body came in range. He moved, slightly, in the direction of the wind, trying to get in friction with the grounds, but failing desperately.  
  
Finally, he got so tired, he pulled out his sword and slammed it into the ground. That got him balanced, as he blinked to look at where the main dojo hall was.  
  
Ten more steps to the right... he sighed, pulling his blade out and sliding it smoothly into the ground in that direction.  
  
If he hadn't already thought things weren't bad enough...  
  
Kenshin entered the dojo, hair, mouth, gi and hakama FULL of sand. He spat, something unlike of the usual rurouni, but then again, he wasn't feeling very 'usual' today. There was a rising fear of dread surrounding the area around his heart, as the door he practically slammed open with his sword. "Kaoru-dono! Yahiko!" He shouted, remembering that they had a training session right now.  
  
Or rather, remembering that they SHOULD have been having a training session right now.  
  
Again, other than the wild wind breezing through his hair, flipping it around like there was nothing else to, there was practically impregnable silence in the dojo halls.  
  
Kenshin was puzzled. Startled and alarmed, more like it. He took a heavy step into the halls, and yet another, taking in what was around him with regenerated interest. It was as if everything about the dojo was new and alien, fresh to yet be firmly imprinted in his mind, but yet he knew this was the dojo he had managed to convince himself to stay as home, so how...  
  
There was a noise without, and Kenshin whirled around just to catch a sand-filled couple stumble into the room.  
  
Soujirou gasped for breath, realizing how good stagnant air was compared to one dancing around fierily, consisting of one mole of sand wherever one dm cube of air was.  
  
...  
  
Sorry, I think I need to go burn my chemistry textbook now.  
  
"Himura-san." There was an urgency to the voice. "Glad you're all right. Kamiya-san and Myoujin-san?"  
  
Soujirou's face further darkened when Kenshin shook his head. Sanosuke was, probably glad that for once he had gotten his directions right, keeping absolutely quiet. He was, however, the first one to notice the note stuck in the wall with an arrow.  
  
Not long after, everybody turned around to look at where he was looking.  
  
Kenshin was the first to be sprinting over, covering the distance in a time shorter than he expected. Glossed over with a new kind of expression, the scar-faced rurouni pulled the arrow out from the wall, and let the note flutter comfortably into his hands.  
  
The other two gathered around to read over Kenshin's shoulders.  
  
"This is a man to man thing, so I've gotten the women and children out of the way. See you tonight at you know where. You know who."  
  
Kenshin's hands trembled, as did Soujirou's determination.  
  
Murasaki was right. This /WAS/ a man to man thing. The women and children should not be involved, and not involving them, meant not staining them with the feedback of this battle.  
  
What have you become, Murasaki?  
  
Why, have you become so... insensitive?  
  
Didn't you once know? Didn't you once cared?  
  
"YOU IDIOT!" Sanosuke started to punch into the walls. Kenshin's face was hidden from all expression, but he clutched the note tightly, unwilling, unable to let go, trembling at the effect of this decision.  
  
Soujirou sank onto the floors, ready to bury his hands and cry if the need be. But he knew he couldn't cry. Not anymore in his entire lifetime if he could help it. Tightly, his fists balled up to be white at the knuckles, the veins so reined they were showing.  
  
There was a sudden flare of movement. Kenshin shook all sand out from his hair and kept the note, turning quickly to exit the dojo halls. Before he did, he stopped at the rack where the wooden swords hung horizontally, and grabbed one to quickly fling it where Soujirou was.  
  
The latter started, but reacted quickly enough to bring down the wooden sword with ease. Kenshin took one final step, his silouette now eerily eased against the frame of the door.  
  
When he turned back, Sanosuke felt inclined to take a step back.  
  
"Tonight." His cold voice stated, gesturing at Soujirou, who now stood up to receive instructions.  
  
Kenshin blinked, and looked away.  
  
"We fight." The final words drifted from through the doors into the other two's ears. The younger boy only widened his eyes, seemingly in protest.  
  
He had always thought it was his own battle.  
  
But no.  
  
Soujirou now slitted his eyes as much as he knew he could afford to. He laid one hand firmly on the wooden sword to feel how good it would be against a real one.  
  
"That's right." Sanosuke grunted from beside him, punching his fists together in motion.  
  
Soujirou nodded.  
  
"It's our battle now."  
  
No more foolish games, Murasaki.  
  
We're playing it for real now.  
  
  
END PART 7  
  
1/9/98  
  



	9. Chapter Eight

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
Was 18 pages into the first draft when harddisk got wiped out. This is the new one and not as entertaining as the first, so please don't skin me.  
  
Zig zag jigu jagu jigu jagu  
[Zig zag zig zag zig zag]  
Zig zag jigu jagu jigu jagu  
[Zig zag zig zag zig zag]  
Mondou muyou!  
[No point in questions and answers!]  
Manazashi no Aria by Hiei (Hiyama Nobuyuki)  
Translation by  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part 8: Pointless Questioning  
  
  
It had been one loooooooong draggy wait.  
  
But just as well, for it provided Soujirou enough time and allowance to ponder over his thoughts right now. He tested the shinai, wondering why he allowed himself to hold another weapon.  
  
Wasn't he going to journey the land to find out the way to live?  
  
Wasn't he going to do it without wanting to cause grevious hurt to anybody at all?  
  
The one he hurt, he decided, the most, was himself.  
  
So he was going to make up for all this. He knew that nothing would be settled if he just sat and allowed Murasaki to do whatever he wanted to him. Nothing would come out of it.  
  
So Soujirou, himself must play a part.  
  
Almost quietly, Kenshin stared up at the skies, now dotted with countless white stars.  
  
But somehow, he could feel no comfort in all that embraced him. He dipped his head down again, having stood in this stance since afternoon. The sandstorm had long blown over and now the dojo was carpeted with a rough layer of large particles.  
  
Kenshin was not interested in all these.  
  
He felt another twinge of pain entering his heart.  
  
And nothing else more.  
  
Inhaling a huge breath, Kenshin erected his stance and looked outwards, towards the horizon where the sea was situated. Where they would face the scum of the land that one Raikouji Murasaki himself.  
  
Now was not the time to cry.  
  
All of a sudden, he moved and barely managed to dodge the incoming arrow whizzing past his face. Irritated, he creased his brow even more and ducked into a stance, sharply glaring at whoever had done it.  
  
Although it was pretty obvious who could have.  
  
"Hello there." A soft voice drifted from a dark shadow standing in front of the gate.  
  
He wasn't there a second ago!!  
  
Kenshin winced, not being able to fully make out the features of this one. He had a young looking face, however, and pretty much fitted the description of...  
  
"Murasaki..." Another voice joined in the line. Kenshin snapped and turned around, almost kicking himself for not realizing Soujirou's incoming presence for having made such a violent movement.  
  
And for another moment, nobody moved, or talked. The winds rose, while the dark clouds hovered above the dojo, just as Murasaki chose to deliver his discourse.  
  
"It's been long, hasn't it, Soujirou?" There was not a trace of emotion to be inferred from the tone used. Sanosuke chose to walk into the dojo main corridor facing the exit at that time, and stopped to stare hard at the intruder.  
  
Murasaki further took one step into the dim light provided by the moon, and smiled. "I don't think I need to introduce myself, then."  
  
"You're darn right you don't need to!" Sanosuke roared, and readied himself to charge. "You asked for it, boy, you came straight as us!"  
  
"Sano, wait!" Kenshin extended a leg towards left, and in the event got Sano tripping all over his legs. The latter fell into one messy pile atop the fresh carpet of sand, and lay there, shaking with uncontrollable rage. His posture, however, prevented him from flogging Kenshin there and then.  
  
The winds continued to howl, and Murasaki scanned his three opposites with slight disinterest. His view finally rested on the one he had been trying to get all this while.  
  
Soujirou.  
  
Who was so distracted, he could not find his tongue in time.  
  
The suspense and tension was so great that when Murasaki finally raised his sword towards their direction, even Kenshin took a shock to his credit, and moved slightly back.  
  
The only one who remained calm and misty eyed was Soujirou...  
  
"Let me see... you have so many things to ask me don't you, Soujirou?" Murasaki continued smiling, his entire expression so non-antagonist that one would never have suspected him of anything.  
  
Soujirou stirred, having been addressed. "I-"  
  
"You're IT." Murasaki continued, disregarding Soujirou's attempt to speak. "And if you catch me, I'll tell you everything and return the girls and that boy to you."  
  
In a flash, he disappeared into the darkness.  
  
"MURASAKI! Wait!!" Soujirou was the first to run out into the courtyards, cursing at his own incompetance.  
  
He was so close... so close... !  
  
Soujirou turned back to cast a questioning look at Kenshin, who he regarded as the leader of the situation on hand. Kenshin gave a nod, and himself started towards the direction Murasaki last left in. Sanosuke was quick to follow and finally, Soujirou, after a lingering 'thank-you' glance at the back of his two friends, sped off at top speed.  
  
Still playing games, Murasaki... ?  
  
The thunder continued to rumble skywards, and brief flashes of lightning softly lit up the fluffy clouds in the skies. The moon, clad with pieces of dirty cotton wool-like clouds continued to try to shine her amber light towards the land, regardless of the success rate, and amidst all these nature phenomenals, Tokyo stood in time, as if frozen and quiet... deadly hush for a bustling city...  
  
Footsteps echoed through the lonely alleys, the sound of slippers rubbing against rough sand. A shadow flickered past on one of the brick walls and stopped, looking back to check his pursuers' progress, then allowing himself to be engulfed by the darkness again taking the left trail. Soon, more rustling sounds could be heard and at the junction three figures stopped themselves.  
  
Sanosuke was the first to curse, his eyes wild with fury. "Where did that foul-smelling knave run to now??" He turned and examined all three exits briefly, seeing nothing but darkness ahead. Finally, he stopped and turned to stare at Kenshin.  
  
The red-headed rurouni stepped forward and frowned. "He may be fast, but there are only three break-offs here."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Soujirou, you take the middle one. Sano, go right." Kenshin issued out his instructions fast. "If we're fast enough, we'll catch him."  
  
"If not," Soujirou butted in. "he'll be at that tunnel. So we meet there." He closed his eyes, and without any further hesitation took off in his issued direction. Sanosuke looked at Kenshin, who nodded at him, and they both sped off towards their designated directions.  
  
Kenshin took the left trail.  
  
Soujirou ran, and ran, and ran. He was tempted into entering his own zone of speed, but knew that if he ran too fast he would never be able to see Murasaki even if he was just right beside him.  
  
He ran some more, then stopped abruptly.  
  
It was hopeless.  
  
Enshrouded by darkness and silence, Soujirou hung his head even lower despite himself.  
  
/All I wanted was peace... all I wanted was happiness... all I wanted was to find the truth to living.../  
  
He closed his eyes, to softly amend his deeply set principles, to clear up his highly confused mind. He could not find relief, he could not feel comfort. There was only hurt... and more self-despair...  
  
/Remember that when you're at a loss, always ask yourself what your most beloved one would want you to do most./  
  
Soujirou's head shot up. It was a voice as clear as day, and he recognized it immediately.  
  
Chitsuru... ?  
  
/Always ask yourself what your most beloved one would want you to do most./  
  
The sentence rebounded off his brains, as if wanting to convey a message. Soujirou could not stop the thoughts from entering, not that he wanted to really. Chitsuru always wanted to tell him not to feel self-despair, that despite what he thought, he was really wanted by a huge amount of people out there...  
  
/... what your most beloved one would want you to do most.../  
  
Soujirou shook himself. Would Chitsuru want him to continue wallowing like the way he was? Would Chitsuru like seeing him all helpless and lost in front of someone he knew?  
  
The rain started to pelt down, softly...  
  
"Do you want me to explain to Murasaki what happened, Chitsuru?" Soujirou raised his eyes and asked, as if expecting an answer.  
  
The only thing to greet him was the howling winds.  
  
Soujirou softly narrowed his eyes. As if programmed with new determination, he took off in the direction he had came from. The howling winds and rain had just reminded him of one thing.  
  
The tunnel.  
  
There was nowhere else he could have hidden the hostages but the tunnel, the one thing he was so familiar with.  
  
We've all been tricked... if we had gone there earlier, we would have saved them! None of this would have to happen!!  
  
But a little voice inside Soujirou told him, that no matter what, if he did not settle this soon, he would never be able to find what he wanted to.  
  
A real sense of belonging.  
  
Murasaki stopped in his step, looking behind him. He frowned. It was kind of impossible. None of the three had gone in this track? And to think he planned everything so well, to trap at least one of them... his brain started to move for an improvise, and he decided to go back to the tunnel to guard his hostages before any of them discovered anything.  
  
"Going somewhere?"  
  
Murasaki whipped around violently, having not expected anybody to be there.  
  
A dark figure, camouflagued by the perspective darkness stood there. This one was really pretty short, and although one could not see his face clearly, one could clearly make out the weapon he hung by the side of his waist.  
  
Kenshin took one step nearer the calm Murasaki, who had long recovered all composure.  
  
"I never thought you would be the one to catch me." Murasaki smiled, realizing that he was subconciously shivering. "Himura Battousai."  
  
"Who were you expecting then? Soujirou himself?" Kenshin asked, undaunted by the fact that somebody so young recognized him. "Don't be silly Murasaki. This isn't going to solve anything, playing childish games and making everybody feel frustrated with you. Stand out, and face it, man to man." He further added, never taking his eyes off the sombre boy. "Don't you understand? You're taking us all around in circles. It's not helping, Murasaki. You're indirectly torturing yourself."  
  
There was a pause, then Murasaki scoffed. "If I were you, I wouldn't jump to conclusions just so quickly."  
  
Kenshin frowned.  
  
"You're the one who doesn't understand anything!" Murasaki suddenly shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Kenshin, who felt obliged to take a small step back. "You don't know me well enough to know why I'm doing this, and I'm not telling you anyway! So buzz off and stop interferring in other people's affairs!!"  
  
When Murasaki calmed down enough to look straight at Kenshin's face, he realized he shouldn't have shouted so loudly. But he pretended to be cool, and tried to walk right past Kenshin to reach the tunnel before anyone else did.  
  
He felt colossally relieved that the red-headed ex-hitokiri did not attempt to stop him in any way.  
  
"Murasaki." A cold voice drifted over the winds. The one being addressed turned around, looking at the turned back of a legend. "I want you to know that I'm not stopping you because I don't want Soujirou to blame me for anything."  
  
He shifted his weight and turned around to stare at the younger one.  
  
"But let me warn you." Kenshin lowered his voice, his eyes glinting with slight hints of gold. "I have an even shorter patience than Soujirou, and if you do anything unreasonable to him..."  
  
Murasaki raised his slightly slumped body, prepared to receive any comment.  
  
A sharp metallic sound burst into his eardrums, as Kenshin gripped his sheath tighter to shake the sword inside.  
  
"I will punish you for him. Take my word for it, young man."  
  
Involuntarily, the younger boy found himself sharply heaving a huge intake of breath. His gaze was fixed on the now receding figure of Kenshin. He found that he could not take his eyes off him. The once dangerous assasin, who had embraced the ways of the land...  
  
As soon as Kenshin's footsteps could not longer be heard, Murasaki snapped into action, dashing towards the tunnel in the fullest speed he could muster up with.  
  
And as for Sano, aw, you all know. He can get lost even on a one way alley but he'll be back... if for anything, he'll be back out to the mainland again, heading towards the tunnel... like the other two...   
  
Saitou stopped just right above the cliff and stared down at the sea. It was in torrents now, the chilly winds coupled with the soft rain. A storm looked inevitable, Saitou thought as he put a cigarette into his mouth. He tried striking a match, but the wind blew out the fire before he even held it close. Removing the cigarette from his mouth, he inspected the choppy waves of the sea again.  
  
High tide was approaching.  
  
"And how woefully un-apt." He commented to no one in particular. "The snow's melted and filled the river to the brim. The bank can't hold out for long now..."  
  
He took one last look and turned back.  
  
"Just hope that big rock blocking the entrance to the underground tunnel will hold on until I get some men to do something about this."  
  
Saitou opened his umbrella and walked off, less Tokio chid him again about 'staying out late in bad weather'.  
  
If only he knew...  
  
Down by the beach, a flustered figure moved into the gaping entrance of the tunnel. His progress was slowed down by the knee deep waters he had to wade through to get there, and once there, the waters continued to be uniformally knee deep. The sea had began to move into the tunnel. And the tunnel, without it's huge rock to stand defensive had gotten itself into a very disadvantageous situation.  
  
Strong winds and heavy rain continued.  
  
Murasaki dived for cover into the tunnel just before the first streak of lightning tore the distant horizon into two. He helped himself up, turning around to stare at the bad weather outside.  
  
The rain just came pouring down from the zenith.  
  
Murasaki stood up, his clothes dripping with sea water which had entered into the tunnel due to the high tide. His eyes were empty, somewhere near shock, but he physically hit himself to snap out of it, so that he may proceed to check his hostages.  
  
A huge wave lapped the cliffside, and entered into the tunnel.  
  
Soujirou was the first of the three pursuers to arrive at the entrance of the tunnel, which was by now bearing a slight resemblance to the mouth of a dangerous animal. In front of him was pitch-darkness, and now the winds were filling up the tunnel as much as possible, so much so that it practically whined with a piteous tune.  
  
He frowned, and knew he was probably too late, and that Murasaki was already inside, guarding his hostages like an eagle over it's children.  
  
All this because he was delayed by an old lady who had lost her way.  
  
But he was not wrong to have helped the old lady. He found out something so precious from the old lady that, if he had gone without helping her, Chitsuru herself would never have forgiven him.  
  
All right. Time to go in.  
  
"Soujirou!"  
  
Soujirou turned around, trying to locate the owner of the voice. He saw a figure struggling desperately against the winds, his frail body looking like it would get blown away anytime. "Himura-san!" Soujirou called out in reply. "Over here!!"  
  
Kenshin waded through the waters, and a huge wave lapped over the both of them. As soon as it receded, both of them stood up and ran, as fast as the waters allowed them to, into the tunnel.  
  
And as they stood there, trying to catch their breath and coughing out any foreign water, Sanosuke make a spectacular diving entrance.  
  
"Himura-san, watch out!" Soujirou managed to warn before Sano and a wave of approximate 5 metres tall rose above him and crashed downwards. Soujirou gapped, no noise coming out from his mouth, as he witnessed the wave playing around with his two companions.  
  
It went away quick enough, and while Sanosuke quickly stood up to shake himself off doggie style, Kenshin lay in the waters, floating atop with spiralled eyes and a great big Oro painted on his tongue.  
  
"Ororororororo..."  
  
"Ah, Himura-san..." Soujirou waded over to help Kenshin up. "Are you all right?" He asked, smiling like a maniac.  
  
"Oro... I don't think so... I must have swallowed a pint of salt..."  
  
"Ahahahahaah..."  
  
"Oei, both of you! This isn't the time to eat salt or laugh! Come on!" Sanosuke pestered, giving Soujirou a hand in helping Kenshin up, then leading the way. Abruptly, he stopped.  
  
"What's wrong?" Kenshin asked, wringing his clothes dry of sea water.  
  
Sanosuke turned around, embarassed. "Ahahah... any one brought a candle or something?"  
  
A split second for a double facefault.  
  
"Candle?" Soujirou asked. "I don't think so... this tunnel is naturally lit by some kind of phosphorus, I guess what we need is a map..." Soujirou smiled, then reached into his gi to fish something out. "And I've got just the thing-"  
  
Kenshin stared, even more wide-eyed than normal. "So.. Sou... Soujirou... what's that you got there?"  
  
Soujirou fossilized, and then crumbled into pieces.  
  
The so-called 'map', now looked like what you would make out of a piece of toilet paper soaked in sea water.  
  
"Ara... I'm sorry, the map's malfunctioned..." Soujirou looked at the piece of what used to be a map and apologized to his companions. "How about you lead us, Sagara-san, you've been in here before, so you're the best person for the job!"  
  
Sanosuke grimaced. He may be proud of his abilities, but it doesn't necessarily meant he overestimated himself in terms of direction finding...  
  
An eerie voice echoed into their ears.  
  
"What are you so worried about? There's no need for a map now, Soujirou. Just walk straight and you'll find me."  
  
The air sunk, and Soujirou deadened his expressions. Kenshin and Sanosuke merely stopped their fooling around and concentrated on the situation.  
  
The waters went up an inch, while the three of them waded their way forward. Soujirou especially, prepared to face something he had been dreading to all this while.  
  
They stopped wading when they realized that they had reached a part of the tunnel which was a dead end. Murasaki hopped off from one of the rocks where he had been trying to dry himself, and went asploshing into the waters, knee deep even in such a deep part of the tunnel.  
  
"Welcome." He simply stated, his sword by his side.  
  
The inner side of this tunnel was filled with age old moss and algae. There were plenty of protruding rocks jutting unevenly out from the sides, making it look like an awkward Victorian styled theatre. Nature's very delicate hands had shaped the most inner cavern of the tunnel to look like a stage, with audience's stands...  
  
... and in one of these audience's stands, were three very disorientated souls trying desperately to come to terms with themselves.  
  
"Kaoru-dono!!" Kenshin's eyes widened. He looked all the way up, and saw Kaoru waving at him from the sheer height of the walls itself. It was approximately a twenty metre climb to where she was, and getting there with all the slippery fungus and protruding rocks was not an easy feat at all.  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru's voice whiffed through the air. It was hardly audible, and Kenshin could see that Kaoru was trying to tell him something, though he couldn't make out what. Two more heads soon appeared from the sides of the rockface they were resting on.  
  
"AH? That fox doctor and Yahiko... both on the same rock?" Sano scratched his head. "How's the rock going to hold with all that weight?"  
  
Kenshin turned around to really glare at Murasaki this time, who was by now unaffected by even the glare of that genre. Again, he drew his sword and pointed it at the three of them.  
  
"Fight me, Soujirou, or there's nothing to talk about now."  
  
Soujirou, who had been like the other two glancing upwards to try to spot the three hostages and check if they were safe and sound now glanced forward at Murasaki. He clenched the shinai tighter in his hands, new faith glossing over his old.  
  
Sanosuke, obviously itching for a fight by now was almost about to step forward when Soujirou turned back to stop him with a pleading stare. "Sagara-san, this time it's for me." He quietly said. "Let me resolve this myself." He turned to look at Kenshin, who narrowed his eyes, apparently knowing that he was not going to be pleased with Soujirou's request.  
  
"While I take up his attention, please make sure that all of them are all right." He smiled softly at Kenshin. "I'm begging you."  
  
"Soujirou..."  
  
Soujirou shook his head, lowering it and then closing his eyes. He spun around all of a sudden, his face losing it's original innocence and with a wild scream charged towards Murasaki who dipped, and with a welcoming smile launched into battle.  
  
The winds continued to howl, cancelling out what Kaoru and the rest were trying to tell Kenshin.  
  
"KENSHIN!!" Kaoru yelled again, determined not to give up hope. She rested for a while as Megumi watched the events going on down on the tunnel floor. She gasped.  
  
"This isn't good. Soujirou's already fighting with him!"  
  
"We have to tell them, Kaoru!" Yahiko insisted, looking at the girl with frustration.  
  
"I KNOW! I'm trying to, but they're not listening!" Kaoru's features twitched with slight irritation with herself. "What do you suggest we do now? The winds are too noisy for us to be heard!"  
  
"Wait, Jouchan, over there... look!" Megumi pointed towards another direction. "It's..."  
  
"KENSHIN!" Kaoru gasped. "And Sanosuke!"  
  
Kenshin and Sano had chosen a spot to launch 'Mission save the hostages', and were currently in the process of carrying it out. The waters had rose to thigh level by then, and amidst the howling of the winds was the occasional clash of metal against wood.  
  
All three of them then looked down to watch Soujirou and Murasaki.  
  
"That... That means no one can stop them now?" Yahiko asked, worriedly.  
  
Megumi slumped backwards, to lean her back against the fungus wall behind her. She nodded gravely.  
  
Murasaki laughed maniacally as he fueded off Soujirou's attack with relative ease. "What's wrong, Soujirou? Didn't you use to be the best? Didn't you hit the living daylights out of everybody who was in your way? What happened eh?" He sneered, launching into an attack himself. Soujirou saw the flash before the blade came crashing down and with both hands on the same spot brought his shinai up for a defence. Absorbing the force of the attack by lowering the shinai the same time the blade lowered, he managed to rebound the sword off without breaking the wooden sword in his hands.  
  
"Murasaki, I don't know why you're doing this, but I know that you were not bad by nature, and you're still not bad! Why are you doing this? Tell me, boy!" Soujirou asked, standing in the rushing waters of the sea.  
  
"Not bad?" Murasaki appeared to be insulted. "After all I've done to you, I'm still 'not bad by nature'?" He grinned. You'll change your mind eventually, Soujirou." He dived under the dark waters and disappeared totally.  
  
/What the-/ Soujirou widened his eyes. Murasaki had completely disappeared under water, and with the element of surprise on his side, Murasaki was near winning.  
  
There was a sharp pain on his left foot, and Soujirou let out an anguished cry. He lifted his shinai and brought it crashing down into the waters, tip of the wooden blade first to try to disperse what had caused him this misery. A laughing Murasaki broke out from the water surface and managed to move away before Soujirou's shinai did any harm.   
  
Soujirou tried to move, but the salted sea water was not giving him a good time with the leg wound.  
  
Not forgetting, his left hand was still injured with the poison.  
  
"You are completely hopeless, Soujirou." Murasaki again tried to sneer at him. "Look at what you are now! After embracing the life of a rurouni, this is what happened to you! I tell you, you will never find the truth you're trying to if you continue on being so wishy-washy! And you'll never-"  
  
"That's enough!" Soujirou yelled, preparing his shinai for another attack. Murasaki stopped, a little shock but nonetheless seemingly pleased at how he seemed to have driven Soujirou into a little corner of his own confusion. "Murasaki, I don't want you to do a character analysis on me! I don't need you to! I've been analyzing myself enough!! I WANT ANSWERS, MURASAKI!! ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS!!"  
  
He bent down lower, and decided to use the Shun Ten Satsu.  
  
If this can't catch him, nothing can.  
  
"Here I come!"  
  
In a flickering moment he disappeared into alternate space, unable to be spotted by the human eye. What he didn't count on was that the waters was going along with him all this while so while he did move very quickly, the waters was slowing him down and telling everyone where he was.  
  
"Too late!" Murasaki grinned and leapt out of the way. He lodged his sword into the side of the tunnel walls and complacently stood on one of the jutting rocks, laughing away. Soujirou halted his Shun Ten Satsu and did a U-turn, agilely making his way onto the rocks.  
  
He was going to catch Murasaki, no matter what. This entire matter was getting on his nerves so much that he would not rest until he got him... until he got the answers to his questions...  
  
Murasaki moved quickly, changing his footage to one of higher ground before Soujirou hopped onto the rock where he used to stand. He looked down at the young rurouni, who in turn looked up.  
  
They stared at each other for a split second.  
  
And into motion they went.  
  
Soujirou clutched the strongest rock next to him, and lifted himself upwards. At the same time, Murasaki also thrust his sword further into the rock face to climb higher. They had alot of vertical distance to play around with, and Murasaki was not going to let himself get caught as quickly as Soujirou wanted him to be. They leapt, stone to stone, rock to rock, always keeping a buffer distance between one another. And while Murasaki switched his course as and when possible, Soujirou himself was having a hard time keeping up.  
  
"MURASAKI!" Soujirou barked at the top of his voice. "Why are you running away? FACE ME MURASAKI! Why are you escaping??"  
  
Soujirou stood on a rock, almost falling over in the event of shouting but still managed to keep his balance. He leant nearer to the wall and looked up at Murasaki, who was now towards his left, only higher.  
  
"I won't answer you until the very end." His cold answer left in Soujirou much to be desired.  
  
But he decided that he had had enough.  
  
Soujirou turned, and chucking the shinai next to his hakama on the left side, he reached out and clawed into the moss-filled wall of the tunnel, slowly but surely reaching a greater altitude with greater confidence.  
  
"Oh no you don't." Soujirou plainly stated. "I'm not going to take that as an answer. NO WAY!" He shouted, trying to beat the winds. Murasaki was stunned at the speed he now moved in, and quickly leapt away. Soujirou altered course and followed sharply behind. "ANSWER ME!!" Soujirou again tried to shout some sense into Murasaki. "Is this for revenge? For taking away the only one who ever loved you and you ever loved back??"  
  
Murasaki leapt towards the rocks, which from the bottom had built up quite nicely into a stairway lookalike formation. He turned around abruptly and before Soujirou could even reach out to climb closer, he brought the sword down with a quick hack, preventing the other from further advancement.  
  
Murasaki stared quietly at Soujirou, contemplating.  
  
"No."  
  
"No?" Soujirou repeated. "Not for revenge?" He re-emphasized, growing increasingly frustrated at the evasive attempts of Murasaki.  
  
"No."  
  
Soujirou almost lost his footing, but kept one hand firmly gripped on one of the protruding rocks.  
  
"Not for revenge..."  
  
"... then for what?"  
  
Murasaki didn't answer. Then he grinned again and started to laugh. "Too many questions, Soujirou!" His evil tone made Soujirou writh within. "Maybe I'll tell you, maybe I won't." Murasaki narrowed his eyes, then laughed his way onwards as he leapt to another boulder again.  
  
Soujirou cursed and reached out to another piece of rock for stability. He lifted his whole body upwards and began the chase all over again.  
  
The waves rumbled into the tunnel, now growing more and more threatening.  
  
"Kenshin, watch out!" Sanosuke swerved and pushed Kenshin out of the way before the large wave engulfed the rock where Kenshin used to stand on. Sano flashed a 'V' sign at Kenshin and hurriedly, they furthered their way up to the top, where Kaoru and the rest were.  
  
"To your right, Sano!" Kenshin instructed, and quickly, they moved in the designated direction.  
  
Kenshin moved silently, while Sanosuke moved with lots of shouting. There was something that just didn't feel right... something was not right... what was it about this tunnel that had aroused his suspicion in the first place?  
  
A piece of rock fell onto his head, causing him to stop on one of the steps to look up.  
  
A huge rumbling sound shook the ceiling of the tunnel.  
  
Outside, the rain continued to pelt down with force.  
  
"Kenshin!!" A familiar voice rang out.  
  
Kenshin snapped out of his delusion and caught sight of the one who had shouted his name.  
  
"Kaoru-dono!"  
  
"Kenshin, quick, onto the slab on your right!" She waved desperately. Megumi and Yahiko were trying to tell her something, but she didn't seem to be listening.  
  
"Oro?" Kenshin found the request to be weird. "But, Kaoru-dono..."  
  
"KEEP QUIET AND JUST DO AS I TELL YOU TO!!"  
  
"YES MA'AM!!" Kenshin shut up immediately and leapt onto the boulder he had been instructed to. There was another boulder on top of him, one that was overhanging. He looked at Kaoru and wondered why the strange request, to find that her attention had already shifted somewhere else.  
  
"Sanosuke! You too!" She shouted.  
  
"ME?" Sano questioned with a weird look on his face.  
  
"JUST DO IT!!"  
  
Grumbling, the white clad fighter hopped onto the boulder beside Kenshin and then both of them stared at Kaoru.  
  
The rumbling sound grew louder.  
  
Kaoru's eyes widened. "Kenshin! Lean against the wall with all your might and don't look down!!"  
  
That having said, she disappeared into the shadow of a rock that was overhanging the boulder she herself was standing on.  
  
"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin shouted again, worried.  
  
And then it happened.  
  
Saitou stood at the path beside the riverbank and watched, wide-eyed with absolute surprise as the river disappeared right before his very eyes.  
  
"What in Tokyo-"  
  
The entire bank had collapsed, and now water gushed in from the river into the tunnel, filling it up almost to the half-way mark. Kenshin's muscles tensed and he gripped his sword tightly, having never seen so much water pour down from his sides before, and being nominally afraid of what was happening in front of him. Sanosuke merely covered his face with both hands and leant back to the walls, trying to avoid getting splashed by river water.  
  
That's right.  
  
Kenshin had almost forgotten that this was a tunnel beneath the river.  
  
It was dangerous enough when it was sealed. When it was unsealed, the winds would affect the ceiling of the tunnel, which was actually the basin of the river above.  
  
And once the impact was great enough, the river would crash into the tunnel.  
  
Almost unconsciously, he felt himself covering his face with both hands as well, like Sano. It was a sight too terrible to behold, and Kenshin with all his years of experience was not about to challenge that.  
  
"Kaoru-dono..." He whispered, unwilling to face the fact that she too was facing this calamity. What surprised him really was that the overhanging rock was doing wonders. It saved him and Sano from being washed into the waters on the tunnel floor, and kept them dry. If he hadn't listened to Kaoru...  
  
The noise of the collapsing riverbank was so loud, Tokyo awoke.  
  
Rain continued to pour down, and lightning lit up the skies, transforming everything from their dark colours into bright, luminous white. The tunnel was no longer a tunnel. It was a gaping rock chasm between what used to be two riverbanks.  
  
The entire river had collapsed.  
  
Kenshin lifted his eyes to look at the horror in front of him. Water, encircling beneath him threatened to eat him up should he fall into it. His hand trembled a little, but he did not give up his mission. Quickly, he checked the rock Kaoru used to be standing at.  
  
"Kaoru-dono! Are you there? Are you all right?"  
  
Silence. Only the sounds of rushing waters greeted him.  
  
Kenshin panicked, and tried again. "Kaoru-dono!! KAORU-DONO! Yahiko! Megumi-dono! Are you all okay??"  
  
He thought he heard a noise, but a few seconds passed and no familiar face popped out to greet him.  
  
He really panicked this time.  
  
"Sanosuke, can you see them?" He turned behind to ask his companion. "Sanosu-"  
  
He stared at the spot where Sano used to stand.  
  
The point here: 'used to stand'.  
  
"Sa... Sanosuke... ?"  
  
The water droplets had not cleared, so he could not see the opposite cliff to check if Soujirou and Murasaki were still there and not washed away by the waters or whatever, but somehow, he knew that Soujirou was resourceful (and fast) enough to be able to dodge an incoming gravity attack.  
  
But what about those he saw before the river came down, and was now missing?  
  
Kenshin could find no words to express his fear.  
  
"SANOSUKE! YAHIKO! MEGUMI-DONO! KAORU-DONOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
  
END PART 8  
  
7/11/98  
  



	10. Chapter Nine

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
THIS FIC IS NOT YAOI! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES 'LOVE' IS MENTIONED!! You can't accuse me of being yuri because I love my friends can you? Good. Now read on.  
  
I have no idea what a piece of junk this was until I re-read it. But I'm not going to re-write it! Well, hope you've liked this fic and thanks for supporting 'Chronicles' to it's very end. You guys have been great readers.  
  
Kaze, itai ame, sebi nomi, kire taito, fuyu no sora  
[Wind, painful rain, calling sounds, broken relationships,  
the winter sky]  
Boku wa naze, waratte ru no?  
[Why am I smiling so?]  
Wakaranai  
[I don't understand]  
Kakushita yo...  
[There's something hidden...]  
Innocence by Seta Soujirou (Hidaka Noriko)  
Translation by  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
Part 9: Behind the hidden smile  
  
  
An image forever fixed upon the mind...  
  
"The entire river collapsing... now I've seen it all..." Saitou glanced into the deep recesses of the dark chasm newly formed, and whistled. "The police'll be busy all year round for this now..." He shook his head, and was about to leave when he spotted some movement inside the chasm itself.  
  
He thought for a while, frowning.  
  
Soujirou trembled, not because of the sudden coldness of the tunnel, well, if there was tunnel left at all... he trembled from fear. Looking down at the waters below his feet, he could feel a chill going up his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to face the roaring waves anymore, and directed his attention somewhere else.  
  
Opposite, the water had not yet fully subsided enough for him to see how Himura-san and the rest were doing.  
  
But he was not interested in that.  
  
After all, he was hanging on a piece of rock by the side of the cliff.  
  
Soujirou blinked, and looked up. A shadow loomed over him, preventing the soft moonlight from reaching his face.  
  
He almost jumped in surprise.  
  
He wasn't clinging onto a rock.  
  
Murasaki was clinging onto him.  
  
Kenshin took in a huge breath, and fell to his knees. He put his face into his hands and shook his head, terribly confused. It was not until a familiar voice called out for him that he finally looked up at all.  
  
"Oei, Kenshin!" The frustrated voice seemed to come from above his head. "What do you think you're doing, kneeling down like that? Getting soft knees so soon?"  
  
The red headed rurouni gazed upwards.  
  
Sanosuke shook his head at him.  
  
"Look at you, come on, better get outta here before everything gets washed away into the waves." Sanosuke urged and started to scale the cliff wall. Kenshin stood up and blinked two times in rapid succession. Now how in the world did he get there without him seeing a thing?!  
  
Nevertheless, Sanosuke was safe, and that meant hope for the others. Kenshin hardened his resolve and reached out to follow Sano to wherever he was heading at the moment.  
  
Below him, as he tried not to look, the waters whined a low rumble, and waves lapped at the walls. Kenshin fought hard, trying to not get his small frame get blown away by the incoming gusts of strong tidal winds. His hands dug deeper into the mud of the wall, fearing he might lose space if he moved unnecessarily. Sprays of water droplets raised and grazed against his face, subtly reminding him of the 'better things to come'.  
  
Kenshin shuddered, despite himself, and wished that it was all but a nightmare.  
  
A nightmare he did not ever want to have again.  
  
But first, to find Kaoru-dono and the rest.  
  
"Over there, Kenshin!" A husky voice rang out.  
  
"I see them!"  
  
/His nature is not bad by default.../ Soujirou frowned at the young boy holding onto his hand. /... why did you lie, Murasaki? You're here not to take revenge... there's another reason, and I'm going to find that out./  
  
"Murasaki..."  
  
"Shut up or I'll let go!"  
  
Soujirou's eyes widened a little. That was an unexpected reply. All these time they had been hoodwinked, all these troubles for nothing? No way. Soujirou was not going to take a plain one liner for an answer.  
  
"I'm tired, Murasaki."  
  
The younger boy paused. He stopped trying to pull Soujirou onto firmer ground and looked down to see the latter staring up with a resigned gleam in his eyes.  
  
"Let go."  
  
Kenshin did a few more acrobats and landed on the rock just beside where Kaoru and the rest were last seen. "Kaoru-dono!" He started to cry out for them all over again.  
  
There was movement from the shadows, and Kaoru's face popped into light to comfort Kenshin's soul.  
  
"Kenshin!"  
  
Kenshin's face lit up a thousand watts, as he sped up and went closer to the the rest of the Kenshingumi. Sanosuke followed him closely.  
  
"Kenshin!" Kaoru said again when Kenshin came beside her. "There's something very urgent-"  
  
"Not now, Kaoru-dono." He shushed her and cued her to look outwards. "We have to get to ground zero first."  
  
"But Kenshin..." Yahiko seemed to want to try to reinforce what Kaoru was about to say. "... we really need to..."  
  
"Oh keep quiet, shortie." Sanosuke popped in from the other direction. "We're having enough trouble with getting to safety as it is, so why don't you..."  
  
Sanosuke closed his eyes in frustration, as Yahiko had long launched onto his head to begin bite-sanosuke's-head campaign. Kenshin almost felt like laughing, but curbed this desire soon enough. "Come on everybody," he urgently insisted. "we need to go, or we'll all be drowned."  
  
"But-" It was Megumi's turn to protest.  
  
They all seemed to have alot to say.  
  
"We'll talk about when we get to safety." Kenshin firmly stated.  
  
Everybody fell silent.  
  
Kenshin scanned through the trio for anymore protests and sighed. "Sano, can you reach ground zero by standing on top of the overhanging rock?" Kenshin questioned. Sanosuke looked up and did a rough gauge.  
  
"Most forcibly, but I think so." He smiled, then jumped onto the rock. Kenshin nodded at Sano, seeing that he was in position and reached a hand to Kaoru.  
  
"Kaoru-dono."  
  
Saitou stood by the side of the collapsed riverbank and took out a cigarette. He gazed onto the next crevass, lifting an eyebrow.  
  
Maybe it was the mist, maybe it was the night... maybe it was all those cigarettes, or maybe it was just himself. But whatever it was, Saitou's jaw almost dropped to the floor as he tried to put two and two together.  
  
What in the world was Battousai doing inside a riverbank just collapsed at this hour in the night?!  
  
Kenshin sat on the floor, almost exhausted. They had all successfully got out of danger zone, when Kenshin helped them to climb to where Sanosuke was, and from there Sanosuke would haul them onto proper ground. Beside him, Sanosuke had already given up to tiredness and lay down, panting like a dog. Only Kaoru was staring still into the crevass, with shimmering eyes and hopelessness seemingly dwelling inside them.  
  
Megumi sat beside her, not so much staring into the crevass, but deep in thought. None of them seemed very happy.  
  
There was tension in the air which Kenshin could not place his foot on. He stood up, and dusted himself.  
  
What was Kaoru-dono gazing at, he wondered, trying to spot anyone who was in the direction of her stare. The mist had almost cleared by now, and while Kenshin searched, his eyes caught a flicker of light blue.  
  
Light blue...  
  
"Soujirou!" He almost gasped. "I wonder if he's all right..."  
  
Sanosuke had sat up by then, as he put a hand to his forehead. "The sooner he trashes that purple guy the better. After all those trouble he's put us through... wish I could do it myself!"  
  
A hard sound of palm against face resounded in the ears of everybody, as Megumi landed a tight slap on Sano's right cheek.  
  
"Megumi-dono!" Kenshin gapped, unsure of what he was going to say. After all, Megumi was never one to lose her cool with no proper reason whatsoever.  
  
Sanosuke stood up to face Megumi, face red from the slap he had just received and totally boiled up with rage. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, WOMAN?!" He spat and directly faced Megumi for an answer.  
  
"For insulting a dying man." Megumi answered straight into Sanosuke's face. "Of course, it was also for your coarse behavior, reckless actions, brainless ideas, tactless tactics AND that door you just knocked down quite some time back not forgetting..."  
  
As Megumi recited, one by one by one, Sanosuke's Mighty Flaws (TM), Kenshin refrained from whipping out his sakabatou to commit suicide then, so he used it to split up the two quarrelling people instead so that everybody could piece together at least a rough idea of what in the world was going on.  
  
"Megumi-dono." Kenshin finally managed to ask after Megumi and Sano had stopped in their little squabble. "Murasaki is dying? Is he down with some terminal disease or what?"  
  
There was silence as Megumi allowed the winds to permeate the surrounding area for a while. She roused, and looked at Kenshin straight in the eye.  
  
"The boy isn't as bad as we all portray him to be."  
  
Sanosuke looked as if he was about to protest, but Kenshin put one hand out and stopped him. He looked at Megumi with his eyes narrowed. "I noticed."  
  
Behind him, Sanosuke stared at Kenshin as if he couldn't believe what Kenshin was saying. "Not you too, Kenshin?" He silently whispered into the winds, but audible enough for the audience.  
  
"Sano," Kenshin turned around for a while. "if Murasaki's true desire was to punish Soujirou and see him crumble and fall, he could have done much better than what he's doing now, given his intelligence."  
  
Kenshin took a step nearer the collapsed riverside and pointed down at the overhanging rock Sano had stood on.  
  
"Below there, is where he placed Kaoru-dono and the rest.  
  
"If he had wanted them killed, he could have just placed them at a more obscure, lower levelled rock platform. After all, although we don't know for sure, I for myself am willing to wager that he had foreseen the collapsing of the riverbank."  
  
Kenshin's eyes narrowed, as new emotions glazed over the old.  
  
"And had intentionally placed his hostages in the safest, and most easily accessed platform."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Kaoru had finished feeling sad by now and she gathered her vocals to speak. "Look down, Sanosuke."  
  
And he did.  
  
Everywhere he looked, this side of the newly formed cliff wall was impossible to reach without professional tools. Twisted mazes vertically formed disallowed anybody to reach a certain spot with ease. Slowly, one by one, rocks disengaged and plunged into the roaring waves below, and only one stood firm above all the disturbance.  
  
The one the hostages were previously on.  
  
"So what's your point?" Sanosuke did not turn his head back.  
  
Kaoru took a deep breath. "Perhaps I should tell you what exactly happened. Between Murasaki, and the rest of us."  
  
The pain was dull in Kaoru's head, when she finally managed to squeeze open her eyes. Dizzy, but not too, she forced heself to sit upright and look at where she was.  
  
She was in for a huge shock.  
  
Twenty metres above ground? /This was the pits.../ She groaned. /Maybe this is all a dream, maybe when I wake up, there'll be a nice, scrumptuous dinner awaiting me in the eating area, prepared by Kenshin or something.../  
  
"Are you surprised?"  
  
She jerked, trying to locate where the soft voice had drifted from. However, there was hardly any light from anywhere, so she probably couldn't even see my own palm outstretched. she squirmed, and thought she saw some movement on the bluish ground twenty metres below.   
  
"Hello." The voice greeted again, soft, sweet and almost friendly. Except for the fact that it was a little hollow and void of some normal emotion, it did not seem to be anybody who would want to do anyone any harm.  
  
She could hear Megumi and Yahiko rouse behind her.  
  
"Excuse me there." Kaoru tried not to shout too loud, for shouting loud in enclosed areas had always been a taboo. "But..."  
  
"Could I tell you what's going on?" The voice continued. "Sure."  
  
There were sounds of footsteps treading against soft soil, then a metallic click. It sounded like sword against sheath, thou Kaoru hoped for the best...  
  
Slowly, though, she realized that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness. At least, she kjnew it would give her a rough idea of who was this one person talking with her from twenty metres below.  
  
"My name is Murasaki."  
  
Yahiko made a noise behind Kaoru, but Megumi was quick to shut him up. Kaoru did not know what she wanted to do then. What could she possibly do? They had played right into his traps, and there was really nothing to talk about with men like him...  
  
... but Kaoru refused to be prejudiced, and she cocked her ears to listen to what Murasaki had to say.  
  
"Some months ago, I met Soujirou with my foster sister Chitsuru. We were like a happy family together, until the people who killed my foster grandfather showed up.  
  
"They lusted after the fortune my grandfather had left behind for us, for he had been a rich merchant. He was a good man and did not deserve to die, but when he did, I knew it was my duty now to protect Chitsuru. Until death must I protect her, and make her happy; for that would be the duty for me as a foster brother."  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"She was never truly happy ever since grandfather died.  
  
"Until Soujirou showed up.  
  
"And almost at the same time, the bad ones showed up too."  
  
If I could hear myself gasp, perhaps that was the reason why my hands shot up at full speed to cover my mouth. I was not stupid. I could see where this story was heading to.  
  
"And that one fateful night, Chitsuru passed away."  
  
Kaoru closed her eyes, trying not to feel anything. But if Soujirou... if he mentioned Soujirou to have something to do with his sister's death...  
  
"Soujirou had failed to protect her."  
  
... then perhaps she would cry.  
  
"I had failed to protect her."  
  
"So what're you going to do now?" Megumi asked, from behind Kaoru. "Did you come for revenge? Did you pursue him all the way here to remind a poor boy of his past mistakes?"  
  
Murasaki scoffed. "What, do I look like I'm so petty?"  
  
"Yes you do."  
  
sweatdrop  
  
The boy threw his hands up in frustration. "Oh well, have it your way then. I'm not in the mood to argue."  
  
"Of course you're not!" Megumi continued to say. Kaoru hid her eyes with her hair and tried to hide in the dark shadows of the rock above them. Megumi was being exceedingly rude and sardonic when she said that... and Kaoru briefly wondered if she behaved like that whenever she woke up, but that would be digressing, so let's pay attention here.  
  
"Look it here, Murasaki, you're driving poor Soujirou insane. You poison him, throw stuff at him, you try to challenge him and then run away to come back again another time. How patient do you think a person can be? Be realistic, Murasaki, if you're trying to seek revenge for your foster sister, the least you can do is to do it right. Or else, leave Soujirou alone, and get a life."  
  
Kaoru tried to tug at Megumi-san's sleeve to stop her, but she didn't seem to be in a very obliging mood. She hoped, sincerely hoped that Megumi wasn't playing her cards wrong. They were hostages of Murasaki after all, and here she was, insulting him like he was in the wrong all this while. No better way to put lives into permanent danger... !  
  
But instead of feeling the other's anger, Kaoru could actually look upon Murasaki and see an impressed expression on his countenance. Or maybe it was because of the lack of light that her eyes were playing tricks on her. Whatever it was, Murasaki was not, in any sense, enraged.  
  
"I will leave Soujirou alone." He simply stated, for once letting all hear that he too, knew emotions. "After I let him know that I never once blamed him for letting Chitsuru slip into the sea that night."  
  
One could practically feel Megumi-san's determination fade. She was probably more surprised than anyone would ever be. Even Yahiko had a confused look on his face.  
  
They all looked at Murasaki, who was almost about to walk out of the tunnel. Perhaps he could feel their eagerness to know an answer but also the reluctance to ask, for he turned around and then gave a heart-warming smile to them. The bit of light coming from the entrance of the tunnel made the rare smile of a supposed enemy surprisingly welcoming.  
  
"I have lived with Soujirou long enough to know what kind of a person he is." Murasaki closed his eyes. "I'm sure you know his characteristics as well as I do.  
  
"He blames himself for the death of Chitsuru. And he left the Raikouji household the very next day after her death.  
  
"I questioned why he left. At many times I felt so angry, so very angry with him. But when I sat down and really thought about it, I knew, that Soujirou would rather himself be blamed than anyone else. Having known him for that amount of time, I realized... that Soujirou did not leave because he despised this household. He left... because he believed that only then could I be happy and peaceful.  
  
"I knew he had always stayed in the household with the thought that once something big happened, he would leave and let us still be happy.  
  
"But he didn't know that we didn't want him to stay because of obligation."  
  
"But of love?" Kaoru whispered to herself. She blinked away a few droplets of tears.  
  
"That's right." Murasaki smiled ever so slightly. "So I told myself, that I would not forgive him if he still blamed himself for the death of Chitsuru. And even if I were to die, I will make him see otherwise."  
  
"Then why play all these games... ?" Megumi flatly questioned. "To me, it totally defeats the purpose of what you're going to do."  
  
Murasaki sighed. "Of course I have to make him think that I'm his enemy. Otherwise, he'll never think of wanting to attack me."  
  
"And that's your plan? To get him to attack you?" Yahiko spoke this time. "It's total waste of time. WHY DON'T YOU JUST TELL HIM?? He's not unreasonable, if you tell him, he'll know, and you'll all be happy... we'll all be happy!"  
  
"It's not as simple as that." Murasaki turned his back towards the three of them. "I know that when Chitsuru died, a part of Soujirou went with her. And with that, a part of his will to live.  
  
"He's forgotten that with blood on his hands, all the more he should live for tomorrow. If there is anything more I can do for my brother Soujirou, I will willingly die to show him that if he does not live on..."  
  
Megumi and Kaoru ducked their heads, but stayed attentive.  
  
"... then he already died the day Chitsuru died for him..."  
  
"But where..." Kaoru finally managed to say after a long silence. "Where does 'death' come into picture? If you don't mind me asking... ?"  
  
Murasaki continued to walk out of the tunnel.  
  
"Can we say re-enaction?"  
  
The three were taken aback.  
  
"Anyway, the high tide will claim this tunnel pretty soon. I'm off to meet up with the rest of your gang. Don't worry, you're safe up there, since you're at higher ground. The river above will be collapsing soon too, but the overhanging rock above you will protect you. You guys are absolutely safe in here, so don't move and wait till the riverbank collapses, then find a way to climb onto normal ground yourself. That's all I can do for you guys now."  
  
He stopped at the exact entrance of the tunnel, then turned around for a while, biting his lips, wondering what he should say.  
  
He smiled again, having found the correct words.  
  
"We won't meet again."  
  
And with a sweep of his scarf bounded out of the tunnel into the deep nights of Tokyo...  
  
"Then... we realized that when he said 're-enaction', he meant that he was going to replay in front of Soujirou..."  
  
"... the death scene of Chitsuru to show him that nobody blamed him for her death." Kenshin finished Kaoru's sentence, his expressions unreadable as he gazed at Soujirou and Murasaki on the opposite cliff wall, still hanging on. "And he has already prepared to die from the very moment this battle began, to show Soujirou that he had to live on for tomorrow, if nothing else, for Chitsuru, and himself..."  
  
Kaoru looked down on the floor, shifting her weight uncomfortably. "We tried to tell you to stop this senseless battle, but..."  
  
"This battle isn't senseless." Kenshin's voice intercepted Kaoru's sentence. "But we must stop it all the same."  
  
Above them, the skies began to light up. The rain pelted down harder, and the winds howled louder. If the literal heavens were begging for a pardon, they couldn't have done it better.  
  
"Let go, Murasaki!"  
  
"Do you know what you're talking about??"  
  
"Of course I do." Soujirou shouted above the roaring waves. "Isn't this what you wanted? Haven't you been planning all those twisted maneuvers for this one moment? Now it's finally possible... you can finally avenge Chitsuru the way I allowed her to go... !"  
  
"I-"  
  
Soujirou waited. But Murasaki never finished what he was going to say. Instead, he chose to cast a faraway glance towards the side.  
  
"Or did you have something else for me in mind?" Soujirou asked again, determined to find out the true purpose of Murasaki's pursuit. "Tell me, Murasaki. Please."  
  
For once, Murasaki seemed to be actually contemplating the thought of telling Soujirou something. But he hardened his expressions again soon enough.  
  
"There's nothing to say. I'm bad through and through. You can't stop me from being what I am, and you're not going to know what I'm going to do."  
  
"Oh." Soujirou smiled, attaching a knowing expression to his face. "Bad through and through?" He laughed.  
  
"What's so funny?!"  
  
"You are." Soujirou stopped. "If you're bad through and through, why did you choose the most secluded part of the riverbank to collapse?   
  
"Why did you take the trouble to evacuate the innocent old lady, even if she was just one person?  
  
"Why are you saving me now?"  
  
"And why so much thought into planning the precise escape routes of Kaoru-dono and the rest?" Kenshin shouted from the other side of the cliff. He did not care how much he had to actually fight with the rip-roaring sound of waters to make himself heard. There was a new perspective to all this, and he was beginning to see his theories come to light...  
  
The younger boy's lower eyelid moved, though no one could be sure what it moved for. Although his face showed no obvious expression, Kenshin was sure his words and Soujirou's were effecting him... slowly, but surely.  
  
Meanwhile, Soujirou had gotten a firmer hold on one of the rocks jutting out of the cliff wall, and broke free from Murasaki's grip.  
  
"You did came with a purpose didn't you, Murasaki?" Kenshin continued to press on. "You speak about the death of your sister Chitsuru. You think you've found out the one way for both hers and your souls to be truly satisfied. Well, let me tell you young man.  
  
"There is no way she will ever be satisfied at the rate you're going now."  
  
Murasaki shot a stare which came close to resembling an infuriated glare, at Kenshin. "What do /you/ know?"  
  
"I know lots!" Kenshin shouted back.  
  
"What's your purpose here? Even if you don't tell me, I know very well what your purpose here is. You are here to avenge Chitsuru."  
  
"I'm not here to-"  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"If I was-"  
  
"If /YOU/ weren't here to avenge Chitsuru, then you're here to avenge your own self."  
  
"What... ?"  
  
"Tell me, Murasaki." Kenshin frowned. "How you knew that a part of Soujirou died with Chitsuru that night."  
  
Murasaki kept absolutely quiet.  
  
"Because she meant alot to him." Kenshin answered his own question. "And what about you?  
  
"Surely she meant much to you as well, Murasaki...  
  
"You would never have wanted to witness her death..."  
  
Murasaki shook his head. "No... NEVER!"  
  
"And neither would she have wanted yours."  
  
The boy stopped, and closed his eyes.  
  
"Are you doing her a favour by dying? By perishing so that Soujirou learns a hard lesson? Would she have wanted this? Do you know how painful it is to watch someone you care so much for sacrifice their life so that you can go on? Have you felt the pain? Do you know the burden? Have you bore that responsibility before? Not once, but twice you are repeating a heart-wrenching scene in front of Soujirou. If you do truly treat him as a beloved brother, why? WHY? Why do you want to die when you can live on happily together? Is it really so hard to give Soujirou a will to live? Will death, or life help him? WHICH ONE, MURASAKI??"  
  
Kaoru looked at the back of Kenshin as he shouted away. In fact, everybody else were doing the same.  
  
Kenshin did not seem to be behaving as per normal.  
  
"Kenshin..." Kaoru uttered, almost afraid to say it out loud. She reached out a hand, but saw that Kenshin was actually panting away. She dimmed her eyes. Physical shouting alone would not have made Kenshin so hard for breath.  
  
Along with his address to Murasaki, Kenshin was addressing the pain within himself.  
  
Soujirou listened to the exchange between Kenshin and Murasaki, and would have scratched his head if it weren't that both his hand were busy hanging on for dear life. He looked at Murasaki, eyes full of plea. "Murasaki." Soujirou said urgently. "Tell me the truth. Now. Please!"  
  
The other boy opened his eyes to look coldly at Soujirou. It seemed as if he had reached a choice from what Kenshin had been egging him to not sit on the fence any further.  
  
"There is no truth in me." Murasaki drew his metal blade from the sheath. The winds tossed his hair around his face, resulting in a wild, crazy outlook. "Now-"  
  
There was a brief flash of white light, as the lightning hit down and eletrocuted a nearby tree, forcing it to fall into the rushing waves. Murasaki halted abruptly in his sentence and clutched his sword almost protectively, as if afraid of something. If one examined closely, one could see that he was gritting his teeth together, and trembling, to the greatest extent, while the freezing weather continued to drag on through the night.  
  
Soujirou snapped, and it occurred to him that Murasaki had once told him something about lightning.  
  
The young rurouni turned slowly to face Murasaki, while the latter refused to meet his eyes.  
  
"You're afraid of lightning aren't you?"  
  
Murasaki chose, again, to remain silent. The way he trembled of course, was an answer obvious enough.  
  
Another freak crack of tree branch denoted yet another lightning strike nearby. Murasaki's eyes opened, wider and wider as he looked at the phenomenal in the skies. White light flashed throughout dark clouds, as if threatening to release the whole store of electricity down onto earth at one shot. Murasaki bit back another cry, while he tried to sink further back into where he was standing on. He could now feel himself trembling, shaking furiously as white lines continued to hit onto ground.  
  
"Even you can be afraid of something." Soujirou commented, neither approving, nor disapproving. "We fear because it keeps us safe from punishment, and disappointment." Soujirou smiled weakly. "I feared I would never be accepted by anybody. But here you are again, and here I am."  
  
Soujirou stepped onto a small rock platform, and released his grip on the wall. His earlier smiles, when in eagerness, when in fear, when in anticipation, when in pain, when in gladness, when in sadness, when in frustration, anxiousness or regardless; appeared. Soujirou smiled The Smile, and put his two arms by his side in a slightly elevated position to the waist.  
  
"I no longer fear punishment or disappointment." Soujirou softly, gently told Murasaki. "Accept me or reject me; I respect your choice and will live or die with it without regrets."  
  
Murasaki tried to look up, but the lightning flashing behind Soujirou irked his eyes and he hid back into his arms again.  
  
"Fear of material things is nothing compared to the fear of oneself." Soujirou further stated. "Fear of oneself is nothing.  
  
"Compared to the fear of fear itself.  
  
"I refuse to fear 'fear' any longer." Soujirou looked at the huddled figure of Murasaki, still smiling away. "And when I say face me, I /mean/ face me." Soujirou allowed his hands to fully rest by his sides. "You must choose now, as I have chosen to allow you to choose.  
  
"Acceptance or rejection. Past or present."  
  
There was a sudden swirl of movement on Murasaki's side, as he proceeded to rise to full height with the help of the strong winds. His head was lowered, but he was breathing hard. Lightning continued to strike at every available spot in Tokyo, and Murasaki gasped.  
  
His hands reached upwards to touch the corners of his eyes.  
  
/I wished they were the rain, but I know they are my tears.../ He returned his attention to Soujirou, and lifted his metal sword. "Soujirou." He said, as calmly as he could, with a tremendous tremor towards the end. "DUCK!"  
  
"Ara?"  
  
He flung the sword towards Soujirou, but not before Soujirou had successfully obeyed the command to 'duck' did he do so.  
  
The sword impaled a tree trunk about to fall into the crevass, and especially onto Soujirou's head. But the sheer brute force exerted in the throw caused Murasaki to finally lose his footing on the platform. He held onto the side of the wall and gnashed his teeth, trying to keep on land, but the sooner he did so, the streaks of lightning again danced across the murky skies.  
  
New fear regenerated in him, and with one cry of resignation, allowed a huge wave that had claimed the rock platform he had been standing on carry him away as well...  
  
... maybe to a far far place where he would no longer bring hurt to anybody...  
  
"NOOOO... !!!"  
  
Soujirou leapt off his own platform and caught his foster brother's hand, the other hand driving the shinai as further into the thick layer of moss and fungus on the cliff wall as possible. They slid to an immediate brake just about 3 metres away from ground zero.  
  
The young rurouni adjusted his grip and realized that he was losing Murasaki to the crazy winds. "HANG ON!" He shouted, fearing the worse.  
  
Murasaki made no movement, other than slowly turning his head up to look at Soujirou.  
  
And to smile at him with the utmost sincerity.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Soujirou's eyes opened as wide as saucers. "What for?" He softly inquired.  
  
"To have to let you see both of us die the same way."  
  
"What-"  
  
"Tell me, Soujirou, did Chitsuru ever blamed you for what happened that night?"  
  
Soujirou stared at Murasaki as if he was crazy. Then he settled down. "I don't know." Soujirou half-lied. He had been wanting so much to tell Murasaki that in his sweetest dreams, Chitsuru would be there, happy and satisfied. Forgiving and smiling, because she would never blame Soujirou for what happened to her...  
  
... and to him, these dreams were his truth. His everything.  
  
"Well let me tell you. She doesn't."  
  
"?" Soujirou made a face. "How would you know?"  
  
"If you must pinpoint a guilty party, I must be your partner in crime." Murasaki again smiled. Soujirou's heart itched a little. He hadn't been out in much business lately, but he knew when someone smiled the kind of smile Murasaki was smiling.  
  
They called it a dead man's last happiness.  
  
"What're you talking about..." Soujirou could feel Murasaki's hand slipping. He forced back a few sniffles and pursed his lips together. In an attempt to block out the tears, Soujirou shut his eyes. But they kept on gushing out, whether his eyelids were shut or not. Warm tears kept coming out to mix with the cold and harsh rain.  
  
It was not the first time.  
  
Nor the second time.  
  
It was the third time.  
  
Soujirou could not bear with it any longer.  
  
"WHY??" He burst out loud. "Why did you do all these? WHY, MURASAKI? Tell me... please tell me..." Soujirou silent sobbed.  
  
"Because of love."  
  
Soujirou looked up with his tear-streaked face.  
  
"Because Chitsuru knew you would be beaten alive on the boat that night had she do not let go. Because I know you will fall down into the waters with me if I do not let go."  
  
And Murasaki gave him the most sincere smile he had ever showed since meeting with Soujirou again.  
  
"We'll be with you in your journey, Soujirou." He optimistically informed Soujirou. "Wherever you are, we are. So don't you dare die, brother." He threatened the poor, sobbing boy, choking into his sleeve. "Now let go, or we'll both take the plunge."  
  
"I won't!" Soujirou shouted. "If once is not enough, one more time and I'm going to go insane!"  
  
"No you won't." Murasaki grinned. "Because you've conquered fear. Congratulations, Soujirou!" He said, then turned serious. "For all the damage I've done, I must give an answer. I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry.  
  
"And remember that there in your hands two people lay their hopes on you." Murasaki clenched the hand Soujirou was gripping onto. "Let neither Chitsuru nor anyone else be gone for nothing. LIVE, Soujirou! Take your journey!" The boy closed his eyes. "One day you'll see what's behind our hidden smiles, and maybe I'll see you again."  
  
Just like the night of so many moons ago, Murasaki took his strength, and released his hand from Soujirou's to dangle in mid-air for a little while, before watching Soujirou's ghastly shocked face...  
  
... and then saying goodbye with one last, lingering look.  
  
"MURASAKI --- !!!!" Soujirou tried to lunge forward to grab his foster brother. "COME BACK!!" He shouted, in between coughs and chokes.   
  
He soon realized that he was in fact, shouting to a pool of fast moving water. He took one last look at the waters, trusted that Murasaki was smart enough to be able to survive and turned his attention.  
  
/I will live./ Soujirou stood firm in his stand. /If not for anyone else, for two of my closest friends and kin./  
  
/I will survive. I MUST SURVIVE!/ The boy fiercely told himself. /Murasaki was right. No one had blamed me for anything./  
  
/I was blaming myself. Time to wake up and smell the roses. The time is now, Seta Soujirou!!/  
  
He swung, and tried to reach the nearest jutting rock. Soujirou shuddered as he heard a crack, and realized that the shinai was coming to a quick break. Opposite, he could hear Himura-san and the rest shouting for him. But they were too far to help. Soujirou's eyes were wet with tears. That was it? Just when he finally wanted to live, just when he finally found the will to be himself before Chitsuru again... he was going to go as well?  
  
A tall shadow loomed over Soujirou, and he turned his head to look upwards at a face hidden by clouds of cigarette smoke.  
  
"Oh boy. Look at what we've got here." Saitou shook his head at the young rurouni, and proceeded to draw his sword out from his sheath.   
  
Kenshin squinted, and spotted a tall policeman standing above the cliff wall Soujirou was hanging on to.  
  
"Saitou!" He blurted out. Immediately, Sanosuke snapped to attention and looked across the bank.  
  
They all saw him draw his sword.  
  
"SAITOU!" Kenshin tried to catch his attention, but to no avail. "SAITOU!!!"  
  
"Weren't you that little boy who was always by the side of Shishio Makoto? Abiding to his every call?" Saitou asked, holding his sword in a position for a vertical stab downwards.  
  
Soujirou was dumbfounded.  
  
Saitou smiled slightly, bringing his sword up. "Aku. Soku. Zan."  
  
Soujirou's eyes widened.  
  
Kenshin could not believe his eyes.  
  
"SAITOU, NO!!!"  
  
  
END PART 9 (okay, I cheated. The next chapter is the final chapter. I PROMISE!!)  
  
8/12/98  
  



	11. Chapter Ten •end•

DISCLAIMER: Rurouni Kenshin characters (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shueisha, Sony Entertainment and whatnots. I am borrowing characters, not making any money out of this and not worthed suing. I'm a poor student interested in writing stories to make others happy... so...  
  
THIS FIC IS NOT YAOI! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.  
  
Tada kaze no sasu basho e  
[Even if I'm going to where the winds point me to]  
Tatta hitori de arui de yukou  
[Even if I'm going this way alone]  
  
Mishiranu honto no boku ni  
[To see and know the real person I am]  
Doko kade aeru no nara  
[Where would we meet if we are meeting again?]  
Journey by Seta Soujirou (Hidaka Noriko)  
Translation by  
  
Chronicles of a Rurouni  
FINALE  
Part 10: Where and when will we meet again?  
  
  
Lightning tore the skies apart, and just like a scene that happened so many years ago, Soujirou stared, with petrified eyes as Saitou raised his gleaming blade even higher and stared down at the boy.  
  
Was it that hard to find himself?  
  
Was it that hard to seek to live?  
  
Was it that hard to ask for forgiveness?  
  
Was it that hard to live for redemption... ?  
  
Soujirou blinked his tears away, and did what he would have done anyway.  
  
He smiled.  
  
And Saitou brought the blade down.  
  
A horrifying peal of thunder later, accompanied with a supreme blast of white lightning drowned out Kenshin's shouts to Saitou, and he could do nothing but stare on, for he was on the opposite side of the crevass and was not fast enough to reach Saitou before he brought the blade down. The rest of the Kenshingumi gapped, numb with the sheer madness of a supposed 'righteous' policeman's actions. They craned their necks to catch what was really going on, and what greeted them was another surprise.  
  
Kenshin narrowed his eyes, and made a decision.  
  
Saitou slammed the sword blade first into the soil on the riverbank, and promptly removed his sheath to lower it into the crevass. When it reached Soujirou's side, all the boy could do was to blink and blink and blink, unsure of what all this was for. Soujirou looked up at Saitou, who was close to falling over the cliff edge he was leaning against for an answer.  
  
"Grab the sheath, I'll pull you up!"  
  
A split second of hesitant later, Soujirou reached out for the sheath.  
  
But before he could even reach it, the rock he was clinging onto crumbled into a thousand small fragments and withdrew their support for him.  
  
Over at the opposite bank, Megumi held a hand to her mouth and Kaoru was close to muffling a scream. Sanosuke and Yahiko both leaned even more forward in hope that some miracle would happen.  
  
While Soujirou closed his eyes and decided that life had been good so far and there was nothing...  
  
... he felt a jerk.  
  
And looked up.  
  
"... Himura-san... ??"  
  
"Kenshin?!?" Kaoru let out her built-up fears, when she saw that the red-headed rurouni had dived into the crevass to grab Soujirou. She could feel her lips trembling, and she knew it wasn't because of the cold winds that night.  
  
Sano and Yahiko on the other hand, were practically dancing around each other going "All right!" and "YES!". Megumi simply removed her hands from her mouth, but still looked tensed enough to burst.   
  
Kenshin's hand coiled around Saitou's sword sheath even tighter, as the other hand tried to prevent Soujirou from slipping into the choppy waves underneathe them (That's right, people, our favourite red-head rurouni has just leapt across a deep chasm approximately 20 metres apart. Do not ask me how he does it. Go and read up your RK Manga 8). He supported both his legs on the side of the cliff to lessen the added weight Saitou now had to bear, but if they didn't get onto horizontal land very soon, it wouldn't matter how many legs he supported on the cliffside...  
  
"... Himura-san... ??" Kenshin heard Soujirou's awkward tone. He was not in the mood for it right now, but he smiled at the little boy all the same.  
  
"Yes?" He tried not to sound too sarcastic.  
  
Soujirou kept very silent.  
  
"Nothing..." He finally spoke after a while. "I..."  
  
"If you ladies down there are done chit-chatting, I'd like to inform you two that you guys are getting to be very VERY heavy. Are you coming up or not?!" An irritated Saitou finally spoke from his crouched position.  
  
"Of course!" Kenshin quickly answered, less his arch-enemy decide to just finish their 'unfinished battle' there and then. He then turned his attention to Soujirou. "Soujirou, climb up on my hand and try to reach the ground. Afterwards you can help our friendly neighbourhood policeman Saitou pull me up."  
  
Soujirou looked down at the waters for a while.  
  
They seemed so inviting.  
  
He was so tired.  
  
"I'm counting to three. If your baby doesn't start moving, Battousai, I'm going to turn you all into fish food!"  
  
"ORO?!"  
  
"One!"  
  
"Soujirou!!"  
  
Chitsuru and Murasaki... and everyone else... all waiting for him down there weren't they?  
  
What sense did it make to return to land?  
  
What was there to look forward to?  
  
"Two!"  
  
"Saitou... !! Soujirou!!"  
  
"Soujirou!"  
  
"Sou-chan!"  
  
"Oi, Soujirou! You scared numb?!"  
  
"SOUJIROU!"  
  
Actually, there /was/ something to look forward to... Soujirou decided as he slowly listened to the voices of Himura-san's family. He looked up at Himura-san, looked way past Himura-san, and finally at land, where...  
  
... Where...  
  
They were all waiting for him.  
  
Murasaki was right.  
  
If nobody wanted him, why was Himura-san giving his all to try to rescue him from this predicament?  
  
Nobody awaited for him in death.  
  
Only in life did people wait.  
  
So why was he still in this semi-zombie state?  
  
Soujirou closed his eyes and started to move a little.  
  
"Three!" Saitou prepared to let go of the sheath, but not before he noticed that the little boy Soujirou was gone. "Hm? Where did that little lad go to?"  
  
A cheeky face appeared by Saitou's side.  
  
"Here, Saitou-san."  
  
Saitou almost jumped out of his skin.  
  
"Hello." Soujirou smiled and greeted. "Ara! Don't let go, Saitou-san, or Himura-san'll really become fish chow tomorrow!" Soujirou panicked and decided to take over the sheath from a seemingly shocked Saitou.  
  
But Saitou regained his composure as quickly as he lost it. He watched as the little rurouni attempted to pull the other rurouni out of the crevass.  
  
And he actually smiled.  
  
He stood up and removed his sword from the ground, snatching his sheath from an unaware Kenshin who had just made it up onto decent ground and with one quick turn walked away into the night. Soujirou watched the man in his mannerism, slowly being engulfed by the distant dark, and softened his eyes to wonder about alot of things.  
  
But his prime concern was someone else, really.  
  
"Himura-san, are you all right?" He asked the out of breath Kenshin. The one being addressed nodded his head once, shook his head twice and nodded his head again.  
  
Soujirou watched the red-headed rurouni, intrigued and with admiration. The rain continued to rain, although it was getting softer and softer now, and Soujirou knew for sure that this time, his tears were really tears, and not something he would mix with the rain.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Kenshin snapped his head up to look at Soujirou. "Huh?"  
  
"Himura-san, was I worthed all that?" Soujirou continued to hide his countenance from view.  
  
"Oro? Worthed what?" Kenshin scratched his head, unable to fully comprehend the light behind Soujirou's words. He sat up, crossed legged to watch the younger one, noticing that his shoulders were trembling.  
  
Soujirou lifted his eyes to face Kenshin.  
  
"Worthed all that trouble of risking your life to save me?"  
  
Kenshin started.  
  
Soujirou was really crying. And smiling... and crying...  
  
Something in Kenshin just cried along with the little boy, as he moved closer and held him in an embrace.  
  
"Just so that you won't do it again, Soujirou." Kenshin pat the younger one on his back. "Just so that you won't do it again..."  
  
Almost obligingly, the rain ceased to come down.  
  
And the night continued to be ask silent and peaceful as any other night would have been...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
Sunlight broke over the distant horizon, as sounds of sliding doors could be heard. A loud and coarse "Good morning" was shouted as the household of Kamiya Dojo prepared for this quite special occasion.  
  
The departure of an eternally good friend.  
  
"Good morning, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin beamed as he entered the kitchen to find Kaoru already hard at work, peeling potatoes.  
  
"Good morning, Kenshin." Kaoru smiled back, in a gay mood that day despite knowing what was going to happen later. "Has he awakened yet?" Kaoru asked almost casually.  
  
Kenshin adjusted his sakabatou and looked up. "He has. He was already awake when I woke up." Kenshin replied.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Kaoru turned back to the preparation area and started to peel more potatoes. Kenshin stood at the doorway, wondering if he should intervene or just let the whole household suffer diarrhea for the day...  
  
"Kaoru-dono..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"... I'm sure everybody would appreciate your kindness in offering to cook but are you really very sure this is a good way to see off our guest?" Kenshin tactfully questioned. He immediately started to shrink when the sounds of potato skin being cut off halted.  
  
Kenshin gulped loudly, and awaited the bokken to come crashing on his head.  
  
Instead, Kaoru simply put down her utensils and turned around, smiling like crazy.  
  
"Just for you guys, today I'm going to whip up a dish so fragrant that memories of this dojo will forever be pleasantly imprinted on Soujirou's mind, how's that?" Kaoru did a little dance. Regardless of whatever Kenshin was going to say, she returned to the chopping board. "Just go out and sit down, Kenshin... breakfast'll ready in a minute or two..."  
  
Kenshin tried to avoid himself from shrinking even further, for we all knew that he was really very short anyway, but he couldn't. He just shrank and shrank and shrank. :Pleasantly imprinted: indeed... Kenshin sighed as he walked out of the kitchen in his shrunken mode. /Maybe I should just bring Soujirou and the rest out for breakfast at Akabeko./ Kenshin pondered, looking at the dojo exit. /Or maybe I'll just bring them out for grass by the riverside... especially with the morning dew now, they should taste great!/ Kenshin hit a fist into his palm, satisfied. /Good idea, I'll go gather them all now... way to go, Kenshin old boy!/  
  
Just as he was about to step out of the main dojo/dining area, Kaoru stepped out of the kitchen.  
  
"Breakfast is ready!"  
  
Soujirou slowly walked down the corridor, having heard Kamiya-san's call for eaters. Everything was more or less settled now... now that the rain season had tided over properly and there were no more weird weather patterns than there were hair on a monk's head...   
  
Even the tunnel was well explained. Soujirou knew from the regulars in Tokyo that the tunnel had existed way before he came, when the sea with it's ever changing tides carved a makeshift hole under the basin holding the river up. It had been sealed up by the locals because they had predicted the collapse of the river if they had not done so, and had not been opened ever since... until...  
  
He stopped and stared dreamily into the skies.  
  
/If not for yourself,/ Soujirou reasoned, /for Chitsuru, Murasaki, and everyone else... for I will never find what I have been seeking so hard and so painfully for unless I live... to never let those who believed so much in me down...  
  
Soujirou picked up his pace again, and with regenerated interest in life stepped into the main dojo with a bright, big smile.  
  
"Good morning." The boy walked towards the gathered Kenshingumi, noticing that even Sanosuke and Megumi had decided to join the dojoers for that day.  
  
"It's good to see that you're alive and kicking, Soujirou." Sanosuke shot a thumbs-up handsign to him.  
  
"Yup." Yahiko agreed. "Though I'm not sure how long we're all going to remain like that." He pouted, scrutinizing the food set in front of him with not too much ease.  
  
A scruffle ensued between Kaoru and Yahiko.  
  
Kenshin watched the fight with sighing, but decided that he would be the innocent victim if he butt in anyway, so he turned his attention somewhere else.  
  
"Soujirou." He called out.  
  
"Yes?" Soujirou turned his attention from the fighting duo to the older man across him.  
  
"Are you sure you're leaving after breakfast?" Kenshin's tone was serious, though not too pressing.  
  
Soujirou pondered for a little while.  
  
"Himura-san, I now have more lives on my account than I can care to want for. And like what you have once said to me, winning something does not mean I have found my true ideal; for that would have been something false, something eked out to satisfy my lack of what should be. I may have won over my inner conflict this time round, and I may have understood that I journey not purely because of guilt and redemption, but for the love of someone else, but still, that is not what will satisfy me. You took 10 years to figure out what you really wanted, Himura-san, and why should I be any lesser?" Soujirou smiled. "'The answers are out in the stars', as you have once told me... and I will find them... then maybe I'll come back to see how you guys are doing." Soujirou finished his brief discourse of what had been stored up for a long time in him, only to notice that everyone else had stopped in whatever they were doing and were looking at him.  
  
He blushed.  
  
"OKAY! Let's eat!" Soujirou took the chopsticks and started to try to stuff himself out of the embarassment. He almost choked on the poor quality of the food and instantly concluded that it was Kamiya-san's handiwork... but too happy to care, Soujirou swallowed it all down, and took another bite.  
  
Everybody started to laugh when Soujirou made choking voices.  
  
The sun had fully risen by then.  
  
"So, Jouchan, you still interested in learning cookery from me?"  
  
"Keep quiet!"  
  
The birds chirped bright overhead, as Soujirou stood, alone but happy, opposite the Kenshingumi, with all his baggage in four shoulder boxes. He smiled, and allowed the winds to graze his skin for a while before heaving a breath and giving a bow of respect and gratefulness.  
  
They had agreed on him leaving once his hand had healed, and within a week, the poison had seemingly totally disappeared from his hand. Even Megumi was surprised, but a promise was a promise, so they could find not reason to keep Soujirou any longer. His will to leave was remarkably strong for a boy with his character, too.  
  
"Before you go, Soujirou..." Kaoru took a few steps forward to face the boy. "... I'd just like to say... thank you for everything." She smiled at him. "And I really mean EVERYTHING."  
  
Soujirou smiled and scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Therefore, I would like you to accept this humble gift." She held out a brand new shinai. "Rejecting it would be rejecting my gratitude!" Kaoru was quick to add.  
  
Soujirou accepted the present with grace. "Thank you so much." He reassured her that everything was fine. "Thank you for everything, too."  
  
Kaoru returned to standing with the Kenshingumi, as a clear line was seemingly drawn to separate the guest from the family. "Well." Kenshin spoke out finally. "From now on, Soujirou, you'll be doing this alone." He warned jokingly.  
  
"Ah. I know that." Soujirou admitted it. "But whoever said a quest for living was easy?"  
  
Kenshin beamed even brighter, completely sure that now Soujirou was more matured than anyone his age could get. "Then you put our hearts at rest." He nodded. "Go, while the weather is still good." Kenshin pointed down the path Soujirou was about to take. "And don't forget that even though you're alone in person..."  
  
"... I won't be alone in heart." Soujirou held a hand close to his heart, closing his eyes and concentrating on that sentence, as if wanting to keep it close to him forever. "I won't forget, Himura-san..." He opened his eyes and looked up. "Thank you. Thank you very much." Soujirou gave another bow, and turned to leave.  
  
"Aren't you going to at least say 'farewell'?" Kenshin asked the turned back of Soujirou.  
  
There was an uneasy pause as Soujirou did not turn around.  
  
But when he did, the tension was lifted as easily as a feather in the winds.  
  
"What for?" Soujirou's smile was sincere and touching. "I'm sure we'll meet again, Himura-san and everybody..."  
  
"... I'm sure we'll meet again..."  
  
Kenshin smiled too.  
  
It was like watching his grown up son going off to seek a path of righteousness, with the promise of a definite return...  
  
Soujirou twirled his new shinai around and finally, finally took a few steps backwards.  
  
"See you." Soujirou nodded, knowing that his joyful tears were about to emerge if he didn't quickly run away or something.  
  
"See you!" A chorus of voices replied.  
  
Soujirou retreated, further... and further, waving the hand with the shinai. "Somewhere in the near future!" Soujirou shouted, being at a distance apart. "We /will/ meet again!"  
  
"I know!" Kenshin shouted back. "We all know!"  
  
No matter how much Soujirou's heart wrenched, no matter how much he pinned and yearned to really stay with Himura-san and the rest as a family member, he knew... that it would not be his 'answer' to so many things. He could not escape... he would not escape... Soujirou smiled to himself. Despite having smiled to himself his entire life, he now knew that the greatest smile he could have, was the smile of happiness for a loved one... a smile that was given... a smile that would not lie or mask...  
  
And thus, Soujirou began a new phase of his journey. And in a certain sense, he began his new life... THE END... ... and the beginning... Journey  
  
Seta Soujirou (Hidaka Noriko) Boku wa boku no basho e yukou  
  
[I am going in this way to "my place"] Mada, nani mo mienai keredo  
  
[However nothing has been seen yet] Mou namidaa ga su no mo  
  
[Even when more tears are flowing too] Kitto kowaku nai yo  
  
[There's definitely nothing to be frightened of] Ano hito ga kureta kotae dake ja  
  
[Only the coming of another person's answer] Honto no boku ni wa nare nai ne  
  
[Would be unable to make me become the real person I am] Nani ga mitsukaru n darou  
  
[Maybe something would be found] Nani o mitsukerare nai n darou  
  
[Maybe nothing would be found] Kokoro ni kakushite oita  
  
[Whatever remains hidden in my heart are] Boku no kakera  
  
[Pieces of me] Tada kaze no sasu basho e  
  
[Even if I'm going to where the winds point me to] Tatta hitori de arui de yukou  
  
[Even if I'm going this way alone] Mishiranu honto no boku ni  
  
[To see and know the real person I am] Doko kade aeru no nara  
  
[Where would we meet if we are meeting again?] Sukoshi hayaku hashiri sugi te  
  
[I'll go by a little faster] Nani mo mi na katta ki ga shiteru  
  
[Boy, I'll see everything since I feel like it] Sou, machigae ta koto mo  
  
[That's right, even if this thing is a mistake] Kitto kotae nan da  
  
[Which answer is for sure?] Mou ichi dou boku dake no jikan de  
  
[Once again, only with the time I have] Dare ni mo mite nai boku ni naru  
  
[For no one can become what I will become] Dare to wakari aeru darou  
  
[I'll probably meet someone to share this with] Dare o kizu tsukete shimau darou  
  
[Who would probably proceed to put away his wounds] Kokoro wa omou you ni wa  
  
[The heart has this idea in order to] Kire nai kara  
  
[Not break off but] Tada, michi no yuku mama ni  
  
[Even if the path will keep on being in this state] Hiroi atsumete arui te mi you  
  
[In order to gather the pieces that has scattered] Yaiba wa kotazu ni yuku yo  
  
[This journey has to be continued] Ryoute de tsukamu tameni  
  
[In order to grasp it with both my hands] Nani ga mitsukaru n darou  
  
[Maybe something would be found] Nani o mitsukerare nai n darou  
  
[Maybe nothing would be found] Kokoro ni kakushite oita  
  
[Whatever remains hidden in my heart are] Boku no kakera  
  
[Pieces of me] Tada kaze no sasu basho e  
  
[Even if I'm going to where the winds point me to] Tatta hitori de arui de yukou  
  
[Even if I'm going this way alone] Mishiranu honto no boku ni  
  
[To see and know the real person I am] Doko kade ai tai kara  
  
[Where would we meet since I want to meet you so?]  
  
  
END PART 10 AND ENTIRE FIC  
Special thanks to Rurouni, Sano, Michiru, Kawaii-san, Kawaii-san 2, Jien, Kaoru-sensei, the Singapore KFC (Kenshin Fan Club) and all my unsung heros for the fic. Now no one will ever get bored by a draggy fic ala COAR again. whee  
  
  
12/12/98  
  



End file.
